The Strangest of Places
by Mighty ANT
Summary: Prime/Rescue Bots Crossover. Little moments within both series. Prompts and suggestions accepted.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Strangest of Places**_

_All characters belong to their respective owners- in this case, Hasbro. Please, if you take the time to read this, review!_

* * *

><p>Chief Charlie Burns liked to think that he was an easygoing guy. Considering he was a single dad <em>and<em> police officer.

He was lenient with his children, though he couldn't really call most of them _children_ anymore. He allowed them to have more freedom than most their age, even when growing up. Three out of the four were full-fledged adults now, and were currently attending Emergency Responders classes to take up the mantle for the jobs that Griffin Rock so needed.

And then that left Cody.

Still mourning his mother's death five years ago, the boy was usually alone, whether it be at school or at home. Even now, as Charlie made dinner in preparation for his elder children's arrival, Cody was up in his room playing with his video games or building model airplanes, or whatever it was kids his age did. It was… disheartening, to say the least.

As Charlie stirred several pieces of chicken breast on the sizzling frying pan, with brow furrowed as he brooded, he decided that perhaps his youngest son just needed someone to talk to. However, just as he was about to open his mouth and call the boy down, the doorbell rang.

The chief's bushy brows creased even more, but he turned the stove off and wiped his hands on his apron, calling to the floor above him as he heard the stairs creak.

"Don't worry about it, Cody, I'll get it!"

"Alright, Dad," the boy chimed, and Charlie soon heard the door to his bedroom closing. He walked over to the fireman's pole at the other end of the room and glided down expertly, hitting the ground with a solid _thump_.

Now on the first floor, he turned towards the door. He knew that it couldn't be any of his kids, they would have simply entered, so it had to be someone else— townsfolk in distress, perhaps. He pulled open the door, and was met with a man he'd never seen before.

Younger than him, the African American man who was a bit out of shape stood in the doorway in a dark grey suit, the jacket unbuttoned to reveal a white shirt and red tie. He had a receding hairline and dark eyes, gazing down at the chief from his advanced height. As the stranger's gaze wandered over Charlie prematurely, the police officer saw his eyebrow twinge in the slightest annoyance, and the chief then realized that he was still wearing his apron—the white one, with the body of a bikini clad island native. Charlie managed a grin, breaking the silence.

"Can I help you, sir?"

The African American man nodded sharply and folded his hands behind his back.

"Special Agent William Fowler," he introduced, pulling out an official looking badge from within his jacket. He pocketed it a moment later, an eyebrow rising vindictively. "Chief Burns, I presume?"

Charlie pulled the apron off, throwing it abrasively over his shoulder. "The one and only," he nodded, holding out his hand.

Agent Fowler hesitated for an instant, before returning the handshake. "I've learned that you're the head of all emergency response units on the island," he said.

"Indeed I am," Charlie agreed. "Who wants to know?"

The Special Agent frowned at the chief's question. "I could name a number of organizations that 'want to know'. The Pentagon, for example." As Charlie startled, Agent's Fowler's features hardened even more so. "Now, if you could come with me, I can tell you what this is all about."

The elder man blinked, but nodded shortly. Quickly running back over to the fireman's pole, he shouted up to his son. "Cody! I'm going out. Lock the doors and call me when your siblings get back!"

There was a pause, before the boy answered in understandable bewilderment. "Uh…okay, Dad!"

Charlie turned back to the Special Agent. "When do we leave?"

Fowler straightened. "Now."

* * *

><p>"So…how exactly did you get here?"<p>

Special Agent Fowler glanced up at the chief from the squad car's passenger seat. Chief Burns was behind the wheel, heading back to the helipad on the other side of the island, where they could be taken to the mainland for…whatever reason. Charlie kept his eyes on the road as his passenger answered.

"Well… let's just say I have friends in high places. They get me where I need to go."

The chief was silent, before muttering, "Huh. And is there any reason that we need to leave Griffin Rock for you to tell me this 'top secret' stuff?"

Agent Fowler shrugged, arms folded across his chest. "It's highly sensitive information, Chief Burns. And in order to reveal it, we need to be in a highly classified location."

"And that would be….?"

"The mainland."

* * *

><p>Chief Burns had never been a fan of flight. Even in his days training at the police academy in Augusta, he'd always preferred vehicles that remained stably on the ground. And so, boarding the helicopter with Special Agent Fowler, Charlie felt a certain level of trepidation, and the feeling remained as they took off and began crossing the enormous expanse of unforgiving water to reach the mainland.<p>

The chief of police had been looking out one of the windows, large, pale hands tightly clutching the straps holding him in place, when the Special Agent had loudly cleared his throat over the roar of the machine's rotating blades, speaking expertly into the headset built into their helmets.

"Do you believe in aliens, Chief Burns?" was the question Charlie received through the din. He sent the younger man a strange look, which Agent Fowler only rolled his eyes at. "Maybe I should reword that— what do you _know_ about aliens?"

"You mean little green men?" Charlie demanded incredulously. "Like Martians?"

"Not necessarily," the agent answered slowly.

"Then what _do_ you mean?"

Fowler paused, taking the lapse in conversation to look out the window, a sudden suspicion shining in his eyes, scanning over the skies as if… _searching_ for something. Maybe even daring something to come near them, if that made any sense. He finally responded, though his gaze didn't leave the idyllic heavens above them.

"Just…keep an open mind, Chief. It's all you can do."

* * *

><p>The helicopter finally touched down in an abandoned airfield, and only Charlie and Fowler exited. Charlie watched the helicopter rise up again, blowing dust and grit into the air, and he covered his eyes with a hand against the wind and sun as it disappeared over the horizon.<p>

"Well, there goes our ride, Agent Fowler," Charlie began absently. "I hope that you have another mode of transportation."

Fowler failed in hiding a smirk. "Sort of." He walked ahead, towards one of the larger warehouses around them, and motioned for the chief to follow.

"Where are we going?" Charlie began guardedly, distrust beginning to lace his tone. Perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea…

"To meet my…superiors," Fowler answered loftily, if albeit grudgingly, and Charlie's brow furrowed, but he followed in step beside the agent. A moment passed before they reached the lowered grill of a warehouse, and the Special Agent stopped.

"I'll ask you again, Chief Burns," he started, turning towards the grey-haired man with his hands akimbo, "What do you know about aliens?"

Charlie managed a snort. "What do _aliens_ have to do with anything?"

"They have to do with everything," Fowler stated gravely.

And then, as Charlie blinked in confusion, the metal grill over the entrance of the warehouse began to rise, slowly revealing an enormous pair of pillar like legs. Charlie's eyes grew steadily wider as the rising gate exposed more of the humanoid creature.

The gate finally shuddered to a halt, revealing what looked like a robot robot, half hidden in shadow. The being took a massive step forward, and instinctively, Charlie moved backwards, nearly falling over his feet, eyes feeling as if they were about to pop out of his head. He dimly realized that the appearance of the robot hadn't instilled any reaction from Agent Fowler.

Now that the creature was in the light Charlie saw its…well, its face. And it looked almost disturbingly human.

From what Charlie could see, the titanic robot had the ability to transform into some kind of semi, judging from its armor. And he was looking down at him, silently, with bright and somber yellow eyes. The robot crouched with deliberate care before him, and it— _he _—spoke.

"Chief Charles Burns," the being began, his baritone like velvet and laced with grave authority, "My name is Optimus Prime, and I am an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron. May we have a word with you?"

* * *

><p><em>AN: As for the color of Optimus' optics, before you become all rapid about that, in Rescue Bots, they __**are **__yellow. The subtle differences between characters in the television shows will be addressed accordingly. If it's from a Prime character's point of view, then the details will be attended to as they are in that show. The same for Rescue Bots._

_I know that Rescue Bots isn't as popular, but it is truly an awesome show. There's humor that not just fore the little kids, and it's even supposed to be in the same continuity as Prime. So there's bound to be a real crossover for them eventually._

_As for this story, as I stated in the beginning, reviews would be extremely appreciated. Even constructive criticism. Any response will do, as long as you do so truthfully, and without flaming._

_Also, this story (if I continue it) will be more of a series of oneshots than anything else, and I do accept prompts and ideas. They may not be used, but all ideas are appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Overprotective**

_Rescue Bots belongs to Hasbro._

_This oneshot isn't a crossover, as this fic will have several little oneshots and drabbles set in both continuities, and some of them will intermix. I apologize for any OOC-ness, and in case anyone doesn't know or remember, Milo is the guy in the hot air balloon in "The Alien Invasion of Griffin Rock"._

_Reviews are love :D_

* * *

><p>The sun was setting, leaving the clear skies of Griffin Rock aflame with orange and pink as the young woman exited the firehouse she called home. There was a defined skip in her step and a pleasant smile on her face as she made her way past the building and onto the basketball court where an orange and white helicopter waited for her, along with a sloppily dressed blonde youth who was roughly the same age as her.<p>

Dani smiled as she approached, raising a hand in greeting.

"Hey, Milo."

The young man mimicked her greeting, his beanie falling into his eyes. "Hi, Dani." Milo watched the woman as she drew closer, before his gaze grudgingly flickered to the helicopter beside him. "So, you're sure that your dad won't mind me taking a closer look at your copter here?"

Dani laughed aloud, stopping before the blonde man and placing a hand on her hip, the other resting on the helicopter's door.

"'Course not. As long as you don't damage anything, my helicopter-bot is open to inspection. Just let me get 'im open." Dani turned towards the vehicle, pressing a button by its clear front window. There was a decidable pause before it smoothly slid open, and the young woman turned back to her friend, gesturing towards the cockpit. "And there we go! Take a seat, Milo."

Milo was all too eager to follow Dani's lead as he scrambled into the copilot's seat, landing with a huff. His eyes went wide as the bulletproof glass fell over them, muting the sounds of the outside world, and revealing all the complex technology inside.

"Whoa..." the blonde boy breathed, extending an arm but keeping his fingers from touching any of the controls. "This thing is tricked out! Look at the screen! That is some high quality tech."

Dani nodded, patting the monitor fondly. "Yeah, Dad says that Washington only pays for the best. And they sure delivered."

The blonde youth nodded vehemently. "Oh, you bet! I just wish we could take this baby up into the air…." The boy trailed off suggestively, but the dark haired woman only shook her head.

"Ah, no can do, Milo. Blades here is still recovering from our ordeal last week. No flying for at _least _one more day, so we can fix the leftover burns over his tail rotor and fin."

Milo stopped in his momentary worship of the vehicle to stare up incredulously at the pilot. "You _named_ your helicopter bot?"

"Well…yeah." Dani hesitated, and blinked. "What's wrong with that?"

The blonde boy quickly shrugged, spreading his hands in an unsure gesture.

"Oh, nothin' I guess," he began. "Though doesn't it seem a little weird, giving a name to something that can't even think. It's not _alive, _Dani."

Dani frowned, and folded her arms defensively over her chest. "But what's wrong with giving him a name?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Milo quickly said, though edged slightly closer to the console. Moments of silence passed before Dani spoke up.

"...Are you still sore about the time I beat you up in grade school?"

"_No_!" Milo instantly yelped, moving away from the monitor as if burned. "And you didn't 'beat me up'….You only tackled me and caught me by surprise."

Dani lifted a critical eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that I knocked a few teeth loose after you made fun of my stuffed elephant."

The blonde boy snorted, edging closer to the pilot. "Do you still have that thing?"

"You mean Ellie? Of course! Why would I ever get rid of her?"

Milo shrugged, moving even closer. "Oh, I don't know, I thought that maybe you'd grown out of it—_oomph_!" The boy had been interrupted mid sentence as his seat abruptly lurched forward, slamming him headfirst into the thick monitor console with an extremely painful sounding_ WHACK._

Dani gasped, sitting up in her own seat. "Oh my gosh, are you all right?" she breathed, reaching out to her companion.

He shook stars from his vision. "Huh? Oh, oh, yeah, I'm fine. Must be one of those bugs you mentioned. This old lump of metal probably has a ton of them. Never knew a helicopter seat could do that though—_OW_!" Milo was smashed back into the console, and a second _WHACK _filled the cockpit.

Dani covered her mouth with a slender hand, reaching out for the dazed boy with the other. "Oh my—_Milo_, I'm so sorry! Here, let me see—"

Milo quickly shook his head, expression dazed but terrified_. "No! _No, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. But I'll just…go home now." The doors to the cockpit opened on their own, allowing the boy to slide out and collapse onto the concrete. Dani watched him leave, gaping, for several seconds and once he was out of sight she whirled around to glare at the monitor console.

"All right, Blades, what was _that?!_ "

The screen activated slowly, and when the 'bot finally answered, he somehow managed to sound sheepish. "Whatever do you mean, my dear partner?"

Dani exhaled forcefully. "That stunt you just pulled! Were you trying to give Milo brain damage? You're meant to be robots _in disguise_, emphasis on 'disguise'! "

"I was only trying to keep you safe," Blades mumbled through his partner's lecture.

The young woman paused. "What do you mean?"

"You should have _seen_ the pheromones coming off that human male!" Blades squawked, and the entire helicopter vibrated as he shuddered. "I didn't know if he was going to try something, and I wasn't about to sit here and watch." His partner was stunned silent for a few minutes, and when the Autobot spoke again, he had begun murmuring uncertainly. "Dani? I haven't offended you, have I? It's just that I know so little of Earth's customs, and the Chief told me to protect you—

Dani interrupted him softly, placing a hand on the console. "Blades, that was probably the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Wha…._really_?"

"Of course," the young woman smiled. "Milo's had a crush on me since high school, and he's tried this sort of thing loads of time before. You even saved me the time of explaining to him that I only want to remain friends for the fifth time, even if the methods were a bit...blunt. So, thanks, Blades."

"Oh...well…you're welcome," the Cybertronian finally said bashfully. A small amount of time passed, and the partners remained in comfortable silence, until a thought suddenly came to the woman.

"Uh, Blades, quick question."

"Shoot."

"Why did you bash Milo's head into the console a _second_ time?"

"Well…he insulted me."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Mother's Day**_

_Transformers Rescue Bots is property of Hasbro._

* * *

><p>Chase was the first one out of recharge, as usual, and he transformed into his bipedal mode, stretching involuntarily, as he often saw the humans do. Walking over to the other side of the bunker, footfalls echoing, he found himself in front of the video screen that resided along the wall. He bent over, pushing one of the buttons that led to the Chief's com line. After a few seconds of static, the bedraggled, pajama-wearing form of the elder man filled the screen.<p>

The police-bot dipped his head. "Good morning, Chief Burns."

Charlie smiled, but to Chase's mind it seemed somewhat forced. "Hey, Chase. How's your morning been?"

"Nothing to report, sir," Chase informed him as the chief took a long swing of coffee from the mug in his hands. The bot then noticed his partner's obvious lack of uniform. "Chief Burns," he began, an optical ridge rising, "were we not supposed to go on patrol this morning?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not today, Chase," Charlie said tiredly, expression unusually haggard. "I'm…not really up to it, today. But I think that Cody would be more than happy to join you."

Chase blinked—the chief never passed up an opportunity to go on patrol, no matter what his physical state. The bot nodded just the same.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for letting me go on patrol with you, Chase!" Cody gushed exuberantly as he seated himself in the passenger seat of the police-bot. The car's interior vibrating comfortingly.<p>

"Thank you for joining me," Chase said politely. The police-bot carefully exited the firehouse, heading for town. Silence filled his cab for a few moments before all of a sudden, a man materialized beside Cody. The boy jumped with a yelp, but the man in police uniform spoke, oddly enough, with Chase's voice.

"Do not panic, Cody. It's still me, but since you are not of legal driving age, I was forced to deploy my hologram."

"Noble!" Cody crowed, reaching forward cautiously. His hand passed straight through the hologram's chest. "That's so cool! Can all of the bots do that?"

"Yes," Chase said. "But holograms can be tricky. It's always better to have an actual human accompanying us."

"Yeah, I suppose," the boy nodded. Silence filled the police-bots interior again, and Chase was the one to break it.

"Cody, if I may, do you have any idea of why Chief Burns refused to accompany me today? He didn't quite seem like himself." The child sighed, despondency lacing the action. "Forgive me," Chase quickly amended. "Have I upset you?"

"No, its fine, Chase," Cody quickly said, though he didn't seem to become any happier. "Dad just...get's like that around this time of year."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know what day it is, Chase?" Cody asked instead.

"Eh, yes. May thirteenth, Earth Year 2012, Eastern Standard Time eight twenty-four A.M.," Chase responded immediately.

Cody exhaled softly once more. "And it's Mother's Day."

The bot was quiet for a few seconds. "A 'mother' is the female that delivers the infants, correct? And this 'Mother's Day' is to celebrate that?"

"Yeah, pretty much," the boy nodded. He sunk into the seat, and his arms folded over his chest. Chase's hologram didn't move, but on the monitor the bot observed his young companion's posture and demeanor, before realization began to slowly dawn.

"And you are an anomaly to this holiday," Chase began, noting how Cody winced at his words. The police-bot fell into brooding silence, giving the boy time to gather his thoughts.

"I guess," Cody finally said, fiddling with the zipper of his leather bomber jacket. "But….Mom's been gone for a while now. Almost five years."

"My condolences, then," Chase said as he braked at a traffic light. "And that is why Chief Burns was so despondent this morning?"

"Yeah. It's not really that fun to have Mother's Day without a mother," Cody murmured. There was a moment of pensive silence before Cody straightened in his seat. "Hey, I have a picture of her. Do you wanna see it?"

"Very well."

The boy swiftly pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket, flicking through menus and tool bars before coming to the photo section. "Here," he said, holding the phone out in front of the monitor. Chase quickly made out the six humans in the picture, the most prominent being a significantly younger Chief Burns, his hair several shades darker and skin less wrinkled, and beside him a female that was rather pretty by human standards, her long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Around her were the younger forms of Kade, Graham, and Dani, with a small baby in the arms of the woman.

"That's me," Cody clarified, pointing towards the infant.

"You were very…small," Chase observed. "Even more so than the robo-baby."

Cody beamed chastely. "Yeah."

Chase was silent for a moment. "And your mother appeared exceptionally kind."

"Thanks, Chase," Cody smiled graciously, his eyes drawn back to the image. "I don't remember much about her, but I do know that she was nice. That's one thing I do remember." The boy glanced back up at the consol. "Do Autobots have parents?"

The police-bot chuckled. "No, not in your sense of the word." Chase was rolling down Main Street when Cody spoke up again.

"She got really sick," the boy sighed, tightly clutching the cell phone with both hands. "It was all really fast. I can't really remember it, but Graham and Dani told me."

Chase coughed, something Cody hadn't thought possible when the bot was in his alt-mode. "I'm…sorry, Cody."

"Its okay, Chase," the child said, smiling softly. "But Dad is the one who really has it worse."

"….Then, perhaps, we should go back. If your father requires the comfort…."

Cody blinked, before a sincere smile spread across his features. "Y'know, maybe you're right, Chase."

"So...back to the firehouse?"

"Yeah. And uh…thanks, Chase."

"It was no trouble."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well...yeah. Here's a semi depressing Mother's Day fic :T_

_And if you've been up to speed with the recent Rescue Bots episodes, dare I say, they're actually becoming suspenseful! _

_Thank you all for the amazing reviews! _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Less Known than Said**_

_Transformers and all of its characters belong to Hasbro. I highly doubt I will ever own them. _

* * *

><p>There were some days when Heatwave just couldn't stand his partner. This was one of those days.<p>

Of course, it didn't help that the bot had "accidentally" run over Kade's foot when in vehicular form, but the human had been ill-tempered from the beginning of the day. Heatwave wasn't attuned to any of the humans' personal lives, but according to Cody, Kade's irritability was due to the fact that some human female had negated his advances and turned down the fireman's invitation of a night out— a "date", or so he was told. Humans made so little sense, sometimes.

Heatwave was abruptly returned to his current reality, and mentally winced as Kade slammed his booted foot down onto the accelerator, gunning the bot's engine on what was supposed to be a _calm_ patrol through town. Heatwave had to figuratively bite back a scathing remark at the impertinent action, as he was exhausted from a full day's work that had entailed salvaging what he and the others could from a dilapidated bridge that had begun to fall apart from the winter's chill and ice. Luckily, it had been an old and hardly used overpass so there had only been minor casualties, but working his aft off in the snow for hours and nearly freezing his actuators, hadn't done much good for Heatwave's mood.

Now though, even with Kade's rough driving, he was still driving in merciful silence, and in a mindset somewhere between semi aware and completely on another planet he observed the quiet town.

During the day, the streets, sidewalks, and parks had been full of raucous humans, all enjoying their time in the snow before it became too chilly, and it had been infuriating for Heatwave to handle the noise level. But now all was silent save for the rumbling of his engine as he and his partner drove past town square, piles of pure white snow gathering even more thickly than before, flurries falling around him in a quiet, almost unearthly fashion. Aside from his dimmed headlights, the only other sources of illumination were the street lamps against the road.

"Looks like it'll be a White Christmas this year," Kade said thoughtfully, the first words spoken since their spat back at the firehouse.

"Hm," Heatwave mumbled distractedly.

The redhead rolled his eyes, leaning back into the leather driver's seat. "Just trying to make conversation, 'Wave."

Heatwave bristled at the nickname as his partner led him off of the main road. "Don't call me that. And what if I don't want conversation?"

"Then you don't need to keep talking," Kade answered scathingly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

"Maybe _you_ don't, fleshy."

Kade scoffed. "Oh, on to petty insults now, are we, robot?"

"Lady-killer," Heatwave jeered.

Taking his partner's response as enough leverage, the fireman retorted contemptuously, "Scrapheap!"

"Meat bag."

"Glitch!"

"Retro-rat," Heatwave hissed, cursing his foolhardiness for using Cybertronian oaths around the humans.

"Half-clock!"

The bot a muttered a halfhearted, "Insect," and Kade noticed his partner's sudden lack of interest in their practice.

The man laughed, steering the fire truck around the outskirts of the island, where high cliffs gave way to a sloping incline and a tree-choked plain forty feet below. "What, running out of insults, 'Wave? I've probably heard you say more curses than anyone on the entire island in the year you and your alien buddies have been here."

There was a stifling silence in Heatwave's interior for several seconds, so that even Kade began to think that something had gone wrong, before the bot promptly exploded, "All right, fleshy, I don't give a flying _frag _about what you think of me and my team being here, and I don't particularly fancy being partnered with you, but get this through your thick organic skull—I don't want to associate with you further than simple partnership, and I am absolutely fraggin' sick and tired of your cracks and idiocy! Now I'm going back to the firehouse, whether you want to or not."

Though shocked by the bot's outburst, Kade wasn't about to go down without a fight—and in that instant, two things happened at once. One was that as Heatwave tried to complete a U-turn, Kade grabbed the steering wheel, roughly whipping the fire track back the way they had been heading. And second, though neither of them knew it, Kade's abrupt shift had made the truck's tires move onto a patch of ice, and both of them lost control.

Heatwave slammed down on his brakes in an attempt to slow himself down, but his speed and angle didn't allow him to do more than smash harshly into the embankment as he skidded. But then, much to his horror, the bar didn't hold and he went flying over the edge. Heatwave connected sharply with solid ground, and instantly fell over, rolling painfully down the incline. He could feel Kade bouncing around his interior, but he couldn't even attempt to stop his ascent, in fear of harming his passenger or himself further.

Finally, after the few excruciating seconds it had taken to get down, Heatwave careened fender first onto the tree line below, somehow managing to land right side up, severely dented and scratched, but functional. He groaned loudly, and once he'd found his voice, called to his partner. "Hey, Kade, you all right?"

Many seconds passed without answer, and Heatwave tentatively transformed back to bipedal mode, his partner in one servo, and he balked at the human's condition. A line of bright red blood trailed down from his hairline, mixing with his already garnet hair, and other gashes coated his abnormally pale skin. Kade was breathing, but only barely.

"Scrap," Heatwave muttered, agonizingly returning to his alt mode and roaring back up the incline.

.

The Griffin Rock Hospital was allocated apart from the town center, a large, posh building equipped with every piece of advanced medical equipment that technology had to offer, set close to the simple quietude of the forest, with green lawns and fir trees around it. And the silence was promptly ruptured by the fire truck that came barreling up the driveway.

Heatwave slid to a stop, tires spitting up bits of gravel and ice, and he surveyed the darkened hospital. He idled in silence for several moments, unsure, but when Kade groaned in his front seat all indecision was thrown out the window, and he activated his lights and sirens.

The blaring sound was sure to awake every living within a five mile radius but Heatwave couldn't bring himself to care—he didn't want to recognize the small ball of panic and fury that had bunched up in his tank, and so didn't address it.

Finally, after nearly a minute of blazing alarms, a light flickered on in the first floor of the hospital. Heatwave eagerly rolled forward, deactivating his sirens but leaving his spinning lights on.

The front door of the hospital was pushed open, and a lithe human female stepped out, shivering in her scrubs and thin sweater. Once the nurse had laid eyes on the fire track she started towards him, attempting to avoid the deeper patches of snow. "Hello?"She called, hands rubbing her forearms to conserve warmth. When no one answered she reached up and pulled his driver's side door open with some difficulty, finding Kade's unconscious body slumped over in the front seats.

The dark-haired nurse gasped, and immediately began looking the young man over, checking his pulse and breathing. She must have seen that he was stable enough because she moved away from Kade, looking around Heatwave's otherwise empty interior. Pensive silence reigned, and the only sound that Heatwave heard was the wind whistling in the distance.

"All right," the nurse announced abruptly, and it took all of Heatwave's might to keep from jumping at her unexpected words, "I know that this man didn't drive himself. Now show yourself."

Heatwave didn't move an inch, and he reflected that it might've looked like he was holding his breath in vehicular mode. The woman rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Stay here and freeze then. I'll just be taking this young man into the hospital—he'll be all right, by the way. It just looks like a concussion." With surprising strength, the nurse lifted Kade out of driver's seat and hopped down onto the ground, struggling a bit under the man's weight. She had begun walking back towards the hospital entrance when Heatwave finally broke his silence.

"How did you know?"

The nurse didn't react much, but glanced back over her shoulder with a smile. "Oh, you're not the first alien I've met."

.

Heatwave was still stationed outside the hospital the following morning, having been switching between half-online and deep recharge throughout the night. Though he rose to full alertness when the doors to the building opened and Chief Burns walked out with the nurse from the night before and Kade, the latter with a bandaged head and a still-too-pallid features. Charlie appeared to be showing gratitude to the woman before turning to walk down the stairs with his son in tow. Once they were beside the fire truck, Chief patted a dented fender with a smile.

"Thank you, Heatwave."

The bot's engine rumbled in response and Charlie nodded, heading over to Chase, who had parked beside the fire truck.

With some strain, Kade managed to climb into Heatwave's front seat, buckling in. There was some silence before the disguised fire truck started his engine, and was the first to speak. Kade did not disappoint.

"Fleshy."

"Half-clock."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Ah yes, Heatwave and Kade are just the best of friends :T_

_I promise that I'll get on to your suggestions and such in the following chapters, but until then, please review! :D_

_And no, I don't really know what **that **nurse is doing here, if you know who she is. Maybe she has family/friends on Griffin Rock? _


	5. Chapter 5

_In Sickness and in Health_

_A/N: Just a little drabble to satisfy your fan cravings! This idea was curtesy of anonymous reviewer holly . austin, and a special thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and story alerted this story :D You are all awesome, and very special thanks to **Netbug009, Answerthecall, Madripoor Rose, Maycie, Kitt21, Foxbear, Frog-Lizard, and Sounddrive, **you guys are all amazing! Though, I'm sorry if I take forever to answer to your reviews- with exams coming up, I tend to become a bit scatter-brained :T  
><em>

_Now, onto the story! Chase gets the spotlight today _

* * *

><p>"And this virus is commonly known as a 'cold'?" Chase inquired, looking over Chief Charlie Burns, who sat petulantly on the living room couch bundled in a thick blanket. The bot had managed to squeeze into the rather spacious area, and now sat beside his partner.<p>

Charlie nodded. "Yes. There's no cure for it," he said thickly, nose stuffed up. He sneezed loudly, wiping his nose with a tissue and adding to the already growing pile on the coffee table while Chase attempted to pretend that he wasn't disgusted by the action. "I'd rather be out on patrol though," Chief continued.

"And why aren't you?" Chase asked, curious. "Even though I'm rather against it, with you in such a weakened state, you do appear quite adamant."

The chief of police chuckled weakly. "Well, when Dani puts her foot down there's no getting around it."

Chase fell silent, in what the humans had dubbed as the "surfing-the-web" silence, before he spoke again. "According to my research, a hearty meal helps speed up the healing process…I could make pea soup?"

"You know, I'm suddenly feeling a lot better."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Facing Demons**_

_Many thanks for your comments, guys! I've got one exam out of the way, so now there are only...five more. Yay! Thanks for all the support throughout this story, and I hope to continue receiving it :T Any who..._

_Now Boulder gets some attention! :D_

* * *

><p>"Graham?" Boulder called, poking his head into one of the rooms that made up the bunker. The frames of various computers and consoles stood out against the gloom, and the only sounds the bot heard were the whirring and buzzing of machinery. Boulder hummed thoughtfully and turned to leave, when the resonance of soft breathing caught his attention.<p>

Carefully toggling the light switch, the fluorescent lights overhead turned on, flickering for a moment before stabling. "I'll have to fix those," Boulder rumbled as he stepped further inside, watching his steps as to not crush as precious tech.

"Graham?" he said again, walking past an enormous machine, by human standards, at least, that the bot's partner had mentioned was for monitoring the tide level around the docks. A message pinged against his processor and Boulder opened the link.

"_Boulder?" _Chief's voice came over the com line, _"Have you found Graham yet? It's not like him to disappear like this..."_

The bot didn't answer for a moment, as he was stepping around another sensitive piece of equipment and found his partner slumped over one of his work stations, various papers with buildings statistics, read-outs, and the like surrounding his head, along with a few of the young man's half finished pet projects, a screwdriver still clasped in a limp hand.

Boulder smiled at the scene before him, activating his com. "Chief, I've found him."

.

Graham groaned, leaning back in his seat with a palm to his forehead. "Are you serious?" he asked around a mouthful of French fries. "I slept for _twelve_ hours?"

Boulder chuckled around the young man. "Yep. Chief started getting worried. Sent me out to look for you."

Graham sighed, plucking his cheeseburger from the greasy paper bag beside him and took a large bite. Boulder's interior rumbled around him. "You haven't been getting enough rest," the bot _tsk_ed, monitor blinking, "and sleep is detrimental to humans, according to Chase."

The young man nodded, brushing his sandy-brown hair from his eyes. "I know, I know," he moaned, taking another handful of fries. "And it's doing a wonder on my eating habits as well. I just have trouble sleeping—always did, so I experiment a little bit. Your guys' tech is especially helpful." Boulder exhaled heavily.

"Well I suppose, but I don't think it's healthy for you to stay cooped up either. All of your siblings go out with friends—even _Kade_! And the Chief is beginning to worry too."

Graham ran a hand through his messy hair with a sigh, and left the fast food remaining in the bag untouched for the moment. "I know," he admitted, looking out the window. He let Boulder handle the driving. "But the problem is that most of my old friends from high school and my engineering classes moved on—some to college, others to find work. Fact is, everyone I did know has left the island."

"Oh," Boulder rumbled, embarrassment lining his tone. The young man smiled, patting the dashboard.

"Nah, its fine, Boulder. Besides, who needs _human_ companions when you work with giant alien robots?"

Boulder only hummed sympathetically, but didn't argue. Graham returned his attention to his late lunch, inhaling another burger and a pack of French fries, thinking the conversation over, when the bot spoke up eagerly.

"Oh, Graham, do you know those humans?" the young man glanced up, and once he saw who his partner was talking about, he paled.

"They're waving to you…" Boulder continued, when he noticed Graham's abnormally pallid features. "Are you alright?" he asked solicitously, "your heart rate sped up. Those humans are your friends, aren't they?"

Graham swallowed almost inaudibly, but nodded weakly. "Uh, y-yeah, Boulder. You can just stop here; I'll get out and talk to them."

Confused, Boulder did as he was told and braked gently at the corner, opening the door for his partner. "Be right back," he said, stepping onto the sidewalk. The young man met the men at the end of the block, and one of them slapped Graham jovially on the back, leading him away with the others surrounding them.

Proud now, Boulder settled onto his shocks in waiting. _And he said that he didn't have any friends, _the bot thought with a mental chuckle. Minutes passed and Boulder began to entertain himself with searching through radio stations and studying the genre of music that played. He had moved on to country music when he saw Graham walking back, and opened the door for him. Though, he noticed that his partner kept one hand clasped over his nose, but Boulder did not yet mention it—humans were still foreign beings, and he did not know if it was normal behavior or not.

"So how'd it go?" Boulder questioned cheerfully as is partner took a seat, starting his engine and continuing their drive down Main Street.

"Good," Graham mumbled, his voice slightly muffled and nasal due to the covering of his nose.

The monitor on the dashboard blinked suspiciously. "Why is your hand over your nose?" Boulder finally asked.

Graham shrugged. There was a stifling silence within Boulder's interior before the bot broke it again, his tone austere now. "Graham, move your hand."

The young man shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "I hardly think that's—"

"Graham."

He sighed softly, but obediently moved his hand away from his face. Boulder braked instinctively, and the cars behind them honked and swerved violently, a few drivers cursing—the bot paid them no mind. His attention was solely focused on his partner's broken and bleeding nose.

"Wha…what happened?" Boulder stammered, starting down the road again.

"Those friends of mine back there," Graham chuckled humorlessly. "They bullied me back in high school."

"We-well why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have let you go!"

Graham shrugged again, wiping away some of the blood that had begun trickling further down his face. "I suppose that I wanted to face them—show them that I wasn't scared anymore." He grimaced at the blood on the back of his hand. "I guess it didn't work out so well."

"But are you all right?" Boulder demanded with a tinge of desperation.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Boulder," his partner chuckled, "it's just a broken nose. It'll heal. But we may want to stop at the hospital to be sure it doesn't heal the wrong way."

"_Ugh_, the Chief is gonna sell me for scrap," Boulder moaned.

.

Down one of the few more decrepit alleyways in Griffin Rock, four young men strolled through, their arms round one another as they sang drunkenly to the heavens.

"_...evil's watching over you, _

_Coming from the sky above, _

_There's nothing you can do!_

_Prepare to strike,_

_There'll be no place to run,_

_When you're caught within the grip—"_

A new voce interrupted their drunken clamor, originating from the darkness of an adjacent alley.

"Excuse me," the disembodied voice began politely, "but do you humans know a young man named Graham Burns?"

The leader of the group, a tall, buff male in his early twenties stepped forward smugly, though he did sway on his feet for a moment. "'Course we know him," the man jeered, looking back over his shoulder at his friends, "We pummeled that little wimp earlier today. Came to us talkin' about 'mending our differences' and 'letting go of old grudges." He snorted. "Well, we showed him what for!"

"Hmm," the stranger began thoughtfully, "is that so?"

The leader hiccupped. "Of course."

"Huh. Well, in that case…"

The ground shook beneath the men's feet, and they glanced around stupidly for the cause of the miniature quake. And then, amid the din came the sound of heavy footfalls, and out of the alley stepped the form of a gargantuan robot, the moon at its back casting its features into shadow and leaving only a pair of luminous orange optics standing out brightly against the gloom.

The group looked up at the being like gaping fish, and the robot bent down, locking eyes with the leader.

"Stay away from Graham Burns from now on, please."

The supposedly confident leader whimpered, face devoid of any color, and the robot lifted an enormous hand, making a shooing motion.

"Go along now."

Not having to be told twice, the men bolted, running off into the night screaming about alien invasions.

Boulder returned to his full height, a proud look to his stance, when his communicator pinged. The bot allowed the call to go through, waiting patiently for the person the other side to speak.

"_Hey, Boulder, where are you? Cody's putting the movie in."_

Boulder smiled. "I'll be right over, Graham. Just had some business that needed taking care of."


	7. Chapter 7

_Tiff of the Titans_

_Transformers: Prime/ Rescue Bots (c) Hasbro_

_A/N: Just a little filler chapter. Enjoy! _

* * *

><p>The ground shook from the force of the Decepticons' blasts, and Heatwave rapidly transformed to bipedal mode, sailing through the air before skidding to a stop against the patched concrete, landing in a crouch.<p>

"Chase!" he barked, just as the police-bot across the street dodged a missile that obliterated most of the office building behind him. "Are all the humans clear?"

"Affirmative!" Chase shouted in return, firing at one of the four Eradicons currently in the air with the electro-shock device on his forearm. "Chief Burns and the others made sure to evacuate. Cody went with them."

Heatwave nodded in approval, before radioing one of his two remaining teammates. "Boulder! Where are you?" He leapt back as cannon fire scorched the asphalt beneath his stabilizing servos, "We need to regroup!"

There was a klik of static before Boulder's gravely tenor broke through the com line. _"We're a block away, Heatwave. Blades' taken a lot of hits, but we're both still functioning. We're on our way." _Heatwave fired a volley of small pellets of pressured water and liquid nitrogen at the jets overhead, and Boulder continued. _"Hey, do you think we can win this, boss? I mean…we don't really have any proper training." _

Before Heatwave could offer false assurances of any kind, a GroundBridge opened behind him and from it raced out a few of Optimus Prime's teammates, guns blazing. Heatwave grinned. "Actually, Boulder, I don't think it'll be much of a problem."

.

_A/N: Was anyone else surprised to see that Chase actually has **weapons**? Anyway, my exams are over and so is school, so now I'm home free until late August! Huzzah! _


	8. Chapter 8

**One Bot and a Baby**

_A/N: Many, many thanks to Sounddrive for this story idea! I hope you all enjoy it!_

_Oh, and on another note, exams finally ended, school is over, and I'm free to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the summer. YAY!_

_BTW, if anyone else has any story suggestions, I'd love to hear them!_

_Oh, and one final note- if you can, you should all watch Madagascar 3, and Brave when it comes out in theaters. Madagascar was outrageously hilarious. OK, shutting up now. _

_Transformers:Prime/Rescue Bots (c) Hasbro_

* * *

><p>Chief Burns slowly seated himself at his kitchen table, relaxing into the plastic chair with a wordless sigh and lifted the mug in his hand, inhaling the warm, bitter smell of his black coffee. "Peace and quiet," he chuckled softly, basking in the simple tranquility. He raised the mug to his lips, about to savor the coffee he had been so deprived of, when—<p>

"_Dad!_ I can't find the robo-baby!"

Charlie sighed, setting the mug down with a _clack_. "Well, it was nice while it lasted. What is it, Kade?"

There was the sound of heavy, continuous footfalls from the floor above before the young man came tromping down the stairs, skidding to a stop before the kitchen table, hair askew and arms in the air.

"That's it! It's been kidnapped!" Kade cried on the verge of hysteria, large hands flying to cover his head in horrified realization. "Call the police! Bring the whole squadron!"

Charlie, not having moved from his seat at the kitchen table, only quirked a brow at his oldest son's theatrics, entirely nonplussed. "First of all, Kade," he began, swishing around the untouched coffee in his mug, "_I am_ the police, and there's not really much of a squadron. Second, what do you mean that the robo-baby's gone?"

"It's just gone!" Kade said desperately. "The little monster was sleeping in his carriage by my window, and then _poof!"_

Chief set his coffee mug down again, rubbing his brow with a weary sigh. "And have you alerted the others?" Kade nodded wordlessly.

Charlie groaned, but rose back onto his aching feet. It seemed as if his coffee would have to wait.

.

"Cody?" Charlie said, a finger to the com link on his collar. "Cody, come in."

"_Hi, Dad,"_ the boy answered after a moment, his voice nearly drowned out by the sound of rushing wind in the background.

"Cody, where are you?" Chief demanded.

"_Uh…not riding Doc's experimental turbo-cycle?"_

The police man groaned. "Fine, never mind. But we have a situation—the robo-baby's gone."

"_Kade was supposed to watch it!" _Cody yelped in alarm.

"Yes, I know," Chief said calmly, "now do you have any idea of where the thing could've gone?"

Cody was quiet a moment. _"Do you have the bots looking?"_

"Of course."

"_Then tell them to look in the same place as last time. And hurry."_

"Understood," Charlie said, disconnecting the line to contact the others. "Everyone, we're moving out!"

.

"_Heatwave, where are you? We need to go find the robo-baby! Get your shiny, metal backside up here _now!"

The bot in question scoffed at his partner's tirade, pausing in his pummeling of the training post to answer. "Oh please," he scowled, "as if I'd go on some pointless search for that Sparkless machine. Go without me."

Kade mutter sourly over the com before predictably signing off. Heatwave took a moment to bask in the rare victory before stepping off of the platform.

He stood in the empty common room of the bunker for several seconds, listening for the telltale whir of either elevator. When none presented itself he smugly strolled over to one of the smaller and forgotten storage rooms, pulling the human sized door open.

Within, buried headfirst in a cardboard box filled to the brim with packing peanuts was the robo-baby, struggling fruitlessly to escape with muffled whimpers. Heatwave quickly bent down, reaching one massive arm into the room and helped the robotic infant out of his cardboard prison, depositing it into his servo.

Heatwave retracted his arm and closed the door, lifting his cupped servo so that he could clearly see the robo-baby. As if reading its guardian's mind, the infant babbled cutely, falling into its back and reaching for the bot. Heatwave allowed a rare smile to cross his faceplates and lowered a digit from the opposite servo for the infant. The robo-baby swiftly latched onto the appendage, and Heatwave chuckled warmly, heading for the living area of the bunker, with its couches and flat screen TV.

"Don't worry, kid," the bot murmured comfortingly, "Uncle Heatwave won't let that idiot human near ya. How about we watch a romantic comedy?"


	9. Chapter 9

_**A Little too Seriously**_

_A/N: Many, many thanks to** Bumbles217** for this idea! Fair warning however, this oneshot may seem rather dark in the beginning but it clears up nicely in the end :D Oh, and if Wiki is to be believed, Bumblebee is supposed to make an appearance this weekend on Rescue Bots ^^_

_Still accepting suggestions! :D _

_Happy Fourth of July, people! _

_Transformers Rescue Bots (c) Hasbro _

* * *

><p><em>Crack!<em>

Kade jolted, whipping himself around, gun and all, to face the threat. An unending line of trees greeted him, and he slowly rotated, uneven breaths sprouting in clouds of vapor, beads of sweat running across his brow and down his neck.

The woods around him were dark, shadowy, and seemingly desolate. This apparent fact did nothing to calm him.

"Well, this is what I get for having a wimp like Blades as a partner," he joked softly to himself, in a failed attempt to downplay his predicament. He gulped, eyes darting around the bare forest surrounding him, Adam's apple bobbing, before he moved forward to continue on his way. He hadn't even taken a step before a volley of projectiles erupted from the dense bushes, nearly each one hitting its mark, the sound of them piercing flesh gleefully affecting the covert attacker.

Kade's scream could be heard high above the forest canopy.

.

"Kade? Kade, do you copy?"

Dani waited impatiently for her brother to respond but received only static over the com. "scrap," she swore, lowering her hand to grip her gun more tightly, "he's down."

Dani took a step forward before reconsidering the action, lifting a hand to her com link again. "Hello, does anyone copy? Blades, Boulder, Heatwave, Graham, is anyone there?" Once again the woman awaited a reply, fiddling with the heavy protective vest over her chest.

At long last there was a crackle of static before her helicopter-bot's weary tone broke through the line. "D-Dani, I'm down. So's Boulder."

Eyes wide, Dani responded, "what about Graham?"

"He's with Chase," Blades whimpered.

"Don't you _dare _give up on me, Blades!" Dani instructed sharply, her opposite hand taunt on the grip of her gun. "Come over to my position. We'll find Graham and Chase. We can still win this."

Blades groaned over the line. "I can't get _up_, Dani. I've been hit on the back of my knee joint and all over my back. 'Sides, you're small. You'll make it past—_AHH_!"

Dani startled at her partner's abrupt cry and was swiftly met with static again. "Scrap," she cursed once more, hefting her gun and standing at the ready. Her dark eyes darted over the dense foliage, passing over the treetops and remaining fixated on the opaque, star-dotted sky.

She heard something snap to her right and whirled around, firing in the direction of the sound with a panicked cry.

Panting, Dani waited for any a sound to reach her, receiving none. Straightening with a grin, she wiped the sweat off her brow and laid her rifle against her shoulder. "Not so tough now, are ya?" she laughed and turned around, only to come face to face with the barrel of a gun.

.

"Did you hear that?"

Chase glanced down at his human companion, noticing Graham's tightening grip on his gun. The bot nodded all the same as he crushed dirt and leaves underfoot.

"Indeed. It sounded very similar to…"

The young science-whiz nearly dropped his weapon in shock. "Dani," he concluded, before rushing to activate his com. "Dani! Dani are you there? Kade, Boulder, Heatwave—can you hear me?" Graham growled softly at the lack of response. "They're not answering."

"Neither to me," Chase informed him smartly. "I can only assume they're down."

Graham sighed, nervously tugging on the straps of his thick vest. "I don't like the fact that we're using weapons," he mumbled, scrutinizing his gun.

"The feeling is mutual," Chase nodded, lifting his own bot-sized weapon and analyzing it critically. "Though it has more to do with possessing a firearm than any ordinary weapon."

"Electro-shock devices in your arms are 'any ordinary weapon'?"

"Touché."

There were a few moments of silence as the pair continued, when all of a sudden Chase's bulky arm shot out, stopping Graham from moving forward. "Chase, what're you—?"

"Did you hear that?" the bot interrupted, yellow optics narrowed on the dense darkness.

"Hear what?" Graham whispered, noting the trepidation lacing the bot's tone. Chase was silent for several seconds before he lowered his arm. "Chase…?"

"Step lightly, Graham," Chase advised slowly, taking a step forward. All at once, the bot had thrown himself in front of the human and the round projectiles splattered against his chassis. Graham exclaimed as the police-bot fell, before firing randomly into the bushes. His panicked shooting ceased after a few moments and he gasped, dark eyes tremulously surveying his surroundings. Then he was pegged in the back of the head.

Graham yelped loudly as he collapsed, holding a hand to the back of his head. His hand came away sticky with paint.

There was a triumphant "_AHA_!" from of the bushes and a bright red behemoth stepped into the moonlight, waving his paintball gun with an uncharacteristic grin. "Take _that_ you bunch of pansies! I _WON_! HA!"

Chase groaned, rising to his stabilizing servos while fruitlessly rubbing at the thick paint over his chest plating. "The point of this exercise wasn't to wipe out the rest of the players, Heatwave."

"Yeah," Graham agreed as he rose achingly to his feet.

Heatwave rolled his optics, folding his arms over his chassis. "Sore losers."

"That's enough, Heatwave," Chief's said over the main com line, "Now is everyone all right?"

"Are you kidding? I've got a welt on my back the side of Texas!"

"I can't see straight!"

"I don't think I can stand…"

"This paint's going to take _forever_ to get out of my rotors…"

"I have paint in my eyes!"

Charlie sighed over the shared radio link, "Oh Heatwave… Well this exercise is over. Everyone return to the firehouse to get cleaned up."

"Heatwave!" a new voice chimed in, "I _told_ you not to go all commando on everyone!"

The fire truck-bot only grinned wryly at the collective groans of his comrades, weary after his paintball beating. "Well I never _was_ one for rules, Cody."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Five Things for an Autobot to do in Griffin Rock**_

_A/N: Well...I haven't updated this in a while, huh? :T _

_Anyhow, this little set of drabbles is based on the "Bumblebee to the Rescue" episodes (which I must say was very awesome) where the bots and Cody all give Bee suggestions as to what he should do to pass the time. _

_As for this fic in general, I still welcome any suggestions, though I would greatly appreciate if they were more Rescue Bots/Prime oriented. Anyway, enough of my jabbering- on with the story!_

* * *

><p><em>01. Karaoke<em>

"All righty, have I got this plugged in correctly, Cody?" Blades called worriedly to his small, blonde-haired companion who had been explaining what was going on to Bumblebee.

Cody quickly raced over and examined every wire—last time they had let Blades near electrical equipment he had started a fire. Moments later the boy exhaled in relief when he didn't find anything hazardous and sent both bots a thumbs-up.

"Everything looks fine. Good job, Blades." As the helicopter-bot grinned bashfully Cody turned on the television and picked up one of the microphones before facing his friends. "Okay, Bumblebee, do you understand what you're supposed to do?" The scout nodded, buzzing happily.

As Cody inserted the correct CD Blades turned elatedly to the Autobot beside him. "Oh, I'm glad you decided to stay a few more days, Bumblebee! You'll love karaoke, trust me. The first night we used it we even got Heatwave to sing."

Bumblebee responded with buzzed laughter that trailed off once Cody whirled around again.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" he beamed, but both he and Blades started when Bumblebee raised his own servo voluntarily. "Uh, are you sure, Bumblebee?" Cody broached, and the scout answered with a cheerful affirmation. "All right then." The boy handed him the microphone before switching on the karaoke machine. "I know a song that I think you'll like."

A few seconds of silence passed before Stan Bush's "Touch" began reverberating from the speakers.

Blades and Cody watched Bumblebee as three lyrics went by unsung and the boy was about to call it a night when the scout suddenly cleared his throat with the grating screech of static, and out of nowhere began belting out a near-perfect rendition.

It was also then that they realized Bumblebee was using the radio.

_02. Sparring _

Bumblebee had taken him up on his offer. Heatwave was currently sparring with one of Optimus Prime's finest—the legendary scout he and his team had learned so much about via mission logs, data pads, and the Prime himself. Heat wave couldn't recall a time he had been more elated. Now, if only the scout would stop moving so fast…

With a growl Heatwave swung and Bumblebee smoothly dodged his fist, the scout's own arms raised a position similar to a human boxer. Their audience, composed of every Burns family member and Rescue Bot, crowed their awe in unison as Bumblebee effortlessly ducked and weaved. "Fraggit," Heatwave puffed, "stay still, would ya?"

Bumblebee chirped, his version of a laugh, and Heatwave felt the all-too-familiar rage bubble up in his tank. With a feral war cry he stormed across the training room floor, fists flying. He didn't even lay a servo on the scout, and didn't even see the bot's fist until it had connected soundly with his jaw.

Heatwave hit the floor with a grunt, the "spectators" exclaiming in surprise before promptly cheering for the victor.

Bumblebee walked over to the fallen bot, offering his servo with an apologetic buzz. Heatwave rolled his optics with a scoff but took the presented servo just the same.

"Yeah, yeah, it was sloppy, I know," he muttered as the scout pulled him up, before sliding into a defensive position as soon as he was stable. Bumblebee buzzed in question and Heatwave responded determinedly, "I'm not finished until I've landed at least one hit on you."

_03. Burglary, general mischief, dancing without a permit, and….sleeping on the job_

"Um…Chief...?_ Chief_..._Chief_!"

"Huh—what!?" Chief Burns exclaimed, jolted from his slumber with a firm shake to his seat. "What…?" he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "_Ugh_, I need to drink more coffee….what is it, Chase?"

"We have a 510 in progress, sir," the police-bot informed him, lifting his partner's seat from its relaxed position. The chief groaned again.

"Can't have a moment's peace in this town…" Charlie grumbled, buckling himself in. "How long ago did they pass?"

Chase engine started up, humming throatily as the bot sped away from the speed trap. "Approximately 20.5 seconds ago. I…happened to doze off as well," the police-bot added a bit sheepishly as the speeder began to gradually come into view.

Charlie chuckled, and Chase activated his sirens when the offending sports car was in front of them. "Its fine, partner. Besides, it doesn't look like our speeder was expecting us." The driver of the vehicle before them seemed to realize he was being followed and slowed, coming to a complete stop at the curb. "Huh," Charlie speculated, unbuckling his seatbelt, "that was easy enough."

"Indeed."

Chase closed the door of his own accord after his partner stepped out, and Charlie strolled over to the driver's side window of the yellow sports car, fighting off the strange sense of familiarity as he did so—maybe he'd pulled this driver over before?

The tinted window rolled down and as Charlie blanched he momentarily wondered if he were still asleep.

"Hi, Dad!" Cody beamed from the passenger seat, the one beside him startlingly empty. Bumblebee buzzed cheerfully from within, a greeting most likely. "Sorry about the speeding, 'Bee isn't all too used to driving by the speed limit—back home, the government knows not to pull him over."

Chief lowered his ticket book with a sigh and he ran a tired hand through his hair as Chase transformed and crouched at the Urbana's side.

"This is not what I meant when I said you could learn how humans codified illegal behavior," the police-bot instructed reproachfully.

_04. Tours and existential conversations _

"And to your right here we have the Hall of Inspiration….ooh and the park…"

Bumblebee buzzed cheerfully over the open com line, clearly enjoying Boulder's impromptu excursion. Cody, seated in the construction-bot's cabin to keep up appearances, beamed in accordance to the scout's words.

"Yeah, it is nice here, Bumblebee," Cody thought aloud, though his cheerful demeanor was momentarily marred by a frown. "But I wish we could show you around in bot mode."

The scout whirred a bit pitifully, but assured the boy that he had grown used to it. Cody smiled again. "Yeah, I almost forgot—robots in disguise." He yawned widely, an action which Boulder observed in dismay.

"By Primus!" the bulldozer said suddenly, grinding to a halt beside the park. Luckily, the only other driver on the road this late was Bumblebee. "Cody, it's past your curfew!" The face on the screen in his cab scrunched in anxiety. "Chief will have me scrapped for having you out this late."

Cody didn't seem to share his friend's worry, but perhaps that was the sudden exhaustion taking hold. "Nah, I'm sure Dad will be fine with it—we're showing Bumblebee around, so it's OK…."

Boulder exvented softly, his frame rumbling at the motion. "You should get some rest, Cody. I can handle being tour guide for a little while."

"You sure?" the boy slurred, his head already beginning to loll to one side.

"I'm sure. Get some sleep, Cody."

Within seconds the boy had followed his instructions, breathing softly as sleep claimed him. Boulder then restarted his engine, chugging back along the road. Bumblebee buzzed quietly, breaking his silence.

"Yeah, Cody's a great kid," Boulder rumbled proudly, affectionately tightening the seatbelt across the boy's chest. The scout whirred again, and Boulder had to stop himself from braking again at the younger bot's question.

"Is he the only reason we stayed here?" the Rescue Bot repeated, surprise lining his tone. Bumblebee buzzed an affirmative, and Boulder fell into a thoughtful silence as they turned into downtown. "He may be _part_ of the reason," he finally admitted, leading the scout through side streets and down unfamiliar roads. "But…this is another one."

Boulder braked again, and Bumblebee slowed beside him. The former had led them to the docks, devoid of any life, human or otherwise, where the various sailboats and yachts bobbed in the starlit waves. Above them, the sky shone opaque ebony, where hundreds upon thousands of stars glistened alongside the moon.

"Like a million optics set in carbon," Boulder breathed softly. Bumblebee buzzed respectfully, though there was a definite sadness to his tone as well. The Rescue Bot sighed, a human habit that even the scout's team had picked up.

"No, I suppose it's not _exactly_ like home…" Bumblebee's response was his version of a scoff, a millennium's worth of pain and memories laced into the simple action. Boulder chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "You know, I've never actually _seen_ Cybertron… at least not how it looks now."

The subdued fury within the scout vanished, like the extinguishing of a candle, and he buzzed and clicked in question.

"No, none of us have. Optimus offered, _grudgingly_, but we… we didn't want to see it."

Bumblebee buzzed again, his tone somber, and Boulder sighed in atonement, a chuckle permeating his tone as he spoke again.

"Yeah…this is home now." Silence reigned between the two, though it wasn't uncomfortable. It was only moments later when Boulder spoke up again.

"So…how about that tour?"

_05. Go-carts _

"So do you have a human partner too?"

Bumblebee stood over the small boy, who in turn kneeled before his ebony go-cart, running routine maintenance. He clicked once, and Cody glanced up at him. "Really? He's my age?" the boy was beaming now, and he turned around to face the scout full on. "What's he like?" Bumblebee buzzed again, his answer lengthy, and it was obvious by the puffing of his asbergo that he was terribly proud and protective of his young charge.

Cody nodded along to the bots response. "So his name's Rafael, and he's a computer whiz? Wow, did he _really_ hack into the government's mainframe? That's so cool! But don't let Chase know." Bumblebee whirred happily, shoulder struts shaking with his version of laughter. Cody found the bot's amusement contagious. "Do you think I could ever meet him? It'd be nice to have a friend who already knew about you guys…"

The scout buzzed mournfully, clearly missing his friend, though explained that his stay on Griffin Rock was meant to be a solitary one, without anyone from his team—human or otherwise—interfering.

Cody nodded understandingly. "Its okay, Bumblebee. Maybe next time, right?"

Bumblebee bobbed his helmed head, chirping cheerfully. But then his posture and features shifted in an inquisitive manner, and he buzzed in question once more.

"Friends?" Cody echoed, returning to the care of his go-cart. "Yeah, I have…a friend. She doesn't know about the bots, though…" he trailed off upon noticing the scout's rigid stance. "Bumblebee? Hey, are you okay?"

"Cody!"

The boy blinked before reluctantly rising to his feet. _Speak of the devil…_

"Hey, Frankie," he said once the girl had entered the garage. He noted with some pride how quickly Bumblebee had become accustomed to robot mode. He turned his attention to his friend however. "How's it going?"

Frankie shrugged as she entered further. "It's going okay—by Newton's Cradle!"

Cody winced at his friend's cry, belatedly realizing that Bumblebee wasn't supposed to be seen out of vehicle mode, which had only garnered him a few longing and jealous looks from the town's populace. But his bipedal mode…

"When did you guys get another bot?" the girl was asking, standing by Bumblebee's feet and looking up, her previous shock forgotten. Cody quickly racked his brain for an excuse. Frankie, unaware of her friend's predicament, cocked her head to one side. The blonde could tell that Bumblebee was trying his hardest not to look down at the girl in turn. "Can he talk, like the others?"

Before Cody could stop him, the scout emitted one single trill that had Frankie looking even more bemused than before. "What was _that_?" She asked, turning around to face her friend. Cody rubbed the back of his neck as he debated whether or not to tell her the truth.

"Um… he said hello."

Frankie blinked. "He did? You can understand him?"

"Yeah," Cody coughed, before walking back over to his go-cart in an attempt to change the topic. "And Bumblebee here was just helping me with Rolling Thunder."

"You named him?"

Cody internally scolded himself, but answered with as much conviction as he could produce. "Of course. We named all the bots. Anyway, do you want to help too…?"

Frankie glanced back up at Bumblebee, her dark eyes meeting his glowing optics, and in that instant, something clicked. She turned back to Cody with a ready smile. "Sure, Cody. Will…Bumblebee be helping too?"

The scout buzzed once, before Cody could stop him, and stepped closer to the pair, observing from above. Frankie didn't comment on the bot's possession of a will and mind of its own, nor did Cody explain. All they did, with Bumblebee's occasional comment, was continue the go-cart's routine diagnostic.


	11. Chapter 11

**_A New Face_**

_A/N: Ooh whadaya know, an update! At long last!_

_Apologies for taking so insanely long in updating. School started, I had a bunch of tests...it was fun. Weekends will probably be the only times I update from now on. _

_And anyway, this story includes a complimentary Prime character! WOOT! _

_Warnings: Some action scenes, Cybertronian curses, and more Prime oriented plot_

_Transformers Prime/ Rescue Bots (c) Hasbro _

* * *

><p>"Fragging 'Cons…fragging Optimus….fragging organic planet…"<p>

"Uh, Heatwave?"

The Rescue Bot instantly quieted, his train of curses continuing silently in his processor as he suddenly became mindful of the child in his cab. "Yeah, Cody?" he answered once he was sure his tone had leveled. The boy was nervously fiddling with the hem of his jacket, a sure sign of his unease.

"Um…why exactly are we all the way out here?" Cody cast a glance outside the bot's window, where the Griffin Rock peak could be seen on one side, sheer cliffs extending to churning waters on the other. Were it anyone else asking him that question, Heatwave would've exploded—rattling off curses, insults, and the like, but being that it was _Cody_ who was inquiring, not Kade or Blades, he answered in a calm, daresay _normal_ fashion.

"We received an alert from Optimus about some Decepticon sightings nearby," Heatwave began succinctly, his sensors on full alert as he turned around a sharp corner, "he had one of his bots dispatched to the mainland just in case, and they hitched a ride over here by the ferry. They were attacked in the woods—Optimus would send in reinforcements, but with so much satellite and radiation interference in Griffin Rock they don't want to risk Ground Bridging. So we're doing recon."

Cody chuckled softly, grasping the steering wheel in thought. "I bet you're glad to be out in the field, huh?" he smiled, and Heatwave felt something beneath his spark tighten. The only reason Cody was with him—why any of the humans were with their respective partners all over the island—was because the threat of Decepticons, _on their island_, was enough to send even Chase into a panic. Luckily, Kade was on the mainland with Haley, so the two were both safe, with Doc Greene and Frankie being guarded by Boulder in the bunker. So far everything had been calm—_too_ calm, as Blades would say, ever the movie buff.

In response to the boy's question however, Heatwave had to restrain a sigh. "You could say that…"

Cody spoke again but Heatwave didn't hear him. No, his audios were trained on something past his cab, towards the tree line that began dense forest, the shrill sounds almost muffled by the tossing waves at the base of the cliff side beside him.

"Heatwave?" Cody murmured, sensing the bot's unease. "Is something wrong…?"

The Rescue Bot realized he had been idling in the middle of the road for several seconds now, but shrugged it off as the staccato of blaster fire reached him fully. "Cody, I need you to stay put, alright?" he demanded sharply, feeling the boy tremble suddenly in his seat. "And if I tell you to run, you _run_, got it?"

"Got it," Cody repeated shakily, small pale hands tightening around his seatbelt. Heatwave hummed once before transforming, taking care to leave the child in his cab. As soon as the final piston slid into place, all chaos broke through the trees.

Several hundred feet ahead of his attackers was a white and blue bot Heatwave wasn't familiar with, leaking heavily from a gaping wound in his side, and firing back at the incoming Eradicons, a dozen at least, pouring in from the woods.

"Scrap," Heatwave swore, running to catch up with the injured Autobot. On closer look, the scout was of Praxian heritage, if the chevron on his helm said anything, with the solemn sigil of the Elite Guard on his shoulder armor. The bot looked up at him upon his arrival, smirking when he shot liquid nitrogen back at the advancing Decepticons.

"Looks like the cavalry's arrived, huh?" he joked lightly, as if he weren't leaking energon from between his clamped digits, taking out two more Eradicons with his blaster.

Heatwave growled in response, though a reassuring squeeze on his steering wheel made him calm fractionally. "Is this all of them?" he shouted over the whine of firing cannons, and the younger bot nodded, slowing his pace as they found a clump of rocks suitable for shelter.

"Yep. I managed to take a few out, but one of them got a lucky shot," the Praxian said, wincing at the pain in his side. A barrage of blaster fire flew over their heads and the pair ducked down, Heatwave swearing creatively under his breath. Both of them leaned out from behind their hiding place, releasing a volley of shots before ducking back again.

"So you're one of the famed Rescue Bots, right?" the younger bot queried amiably as their covert was repeatedly blasted, critically examining his still-leaking wound. "Doc and Prime mentioned you—can't believe you missed out on the war! Of course, not that _I'm_ one to talk, seeing as how I was stuck in Iacon for a majority of—"

"Do you _ever_ stop talking?" Heatwave hissed, whirling around to glower at the Praxian. "We're under fire at the moment, and I'd _really_ like to get out of this in one piece!"

The Autobot only laughed. "Why in such a hurry, Red? Got some rescues to pull off?" Ignoring Heatwave's scathing look, he leaned heavily against their shelter and fired a few more rounds, taking down another Eradicon. "Wish you had more combat experience, Red. We could be done by now."

"Don't call me 'Red'," Heatwave growled, mimicking the younger Cybertronian. The Praxian chuckled again, plopping back down and facing the Rescue Bot.

"What should a call you then…" Heatwave saw how the bot's gaze trailed to his chest, and his own optics followed suit, finding a trembling and pale Cody looking back up. Glancing back up to meet the Autobot's optics, Heatwave was surprised to see the nameless bot swallow. "Right. You've got protecting to do." Without preamble, the young Autobot stood up, blaster at the ready, and directly in the line of fire.

"What the _frag_ do you think you're doing?" Heatwave demanded, and the Praxian smirked through his obvious pain.

"Red, if there's one thing Optimus has taught me, is that we are to protect these organics. And that's what I'm going to do."

The young Cybertronian hadn't even taken a step outside their covert before being promptly tackled by Heatwave, a stray blast just barely skimming the back of his helm. "Like scrap am I gonna let you offline," Heatwave muttered, pulling the stunned bot up into a sitting position, "and besides, I'm gonna need all the help I can get."

The Praxian chuckled. "Stubborn old fragger, eh? Alright, then we'll need to draw the 'Cons away from the tree line, they have an advantage over there."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Heatwave questioned, glancing around their shelter at the six Eradicons that remained. Turning back to the white and blue bot, he found that he already had both blasters out and a manic grin on his faceplates.

"We're gonna weed 'em out."

.

"Nice plan, hotshot. Let's do it again sometime."

The Praxian rolled his eyes at the elder bot's sarcasm, limping as he stepped closer to the cliff's edge and away from the advancing Eradicons. "Well I didn't see _you_ coming up with anything, Mr. Wise Guy," he muttered, only one blaster out and hopping from Decepticon to Decepticon. Heatwave knew that the warrior was bleeding out.

Heatwave moved back as one of the three Eradicons' blasters came rather close for comfort, and found his pede nearly hanging off of the cliff side. Craning his head around, the Rescue Bot was met with churning waves and sharp rocks below. He felt Cody trembling within him just as a tremor ran through the thin precipice they were standing on, and the bot felt a metaphorical light bulb go off in his processor.

"Kid, I've got an idea," he hissed, just as the Decepticons' blasters began buzzing.

"Well I'm open to suggestions," the Praxian responded.

The Rescue Bot raised his arms, signaling for his companion to do the same. And then, just as the Eradicons fired, the pair dodged the blasts as best as they could and fired right back. Though, not at the Decepticons.

The rocky overhang they were standing on instantly began to give, not meant to hold several tons of Cybertronian, nor resistant to blaster fire. The Praxian had quickly caught onto Heatwave plan, and as the Eradicons looked on in confusion, they stormed past them to stable ground.

Their screams were shrill as they plummeted to the waters below; most pierced on the sharp rocks, while the Autobots made a mad dash for safety. Only Heatwave managed to make it, as the younger bot was weakened from energon loss, and was caught in the collapsing cliff. Or he would have been, had Heatwave not noticed at the last second and gripped the Praxian's servo, dragging them both down.

Heatwave had fallen wrong, landing on his back with the Elite Guard warrior dangling on the end of his servo, and the added weight put massive strain on his arm, several circuits sizzling and popping from the exertion, leaking bits of energon. The Rescue Bot swore creatively at the pain.

Dangling below, the young bot exhaled shakily. "Well, that was some plan, huh?"

"Uh huh," Heatwave ground out, hoping to mask some of the pain he was feeling, but the blue and white bot saw right through it.

"You're hurt, aren't you?"

Heatwave felt Cody's grip tighten on the steering wheel, the boy's heart racing. "A little," he grudgingly admitted. A laugh, bordering on the hysterical, left the younger bot's mouthplate.

"'A little' my aft. Have you called your team in?"

"Interference from 'Cons just lifted. ETA four minutes."

He knew without looking that the young warrior had winced. "Can you hold out that long?"

Before he could lie, the joints in Heatwave's arms gave a mighty groan, spraying forth new energon, and making the Rescue Bot gasp at the blossoming pain. The Praxian swayed dangerously on his end, and he fought for purchase on the rock face, only for the dirt to come apart in his servos. There was silence for several seconds, filled only with Heatwave's labored exvents, when Cody spoke up tentatively from his guardian's interior.

"Heatwave…? Are you…"

"I'm fine, Cody," the Rescue Bot said quickly, wincing as the wires in his arm sparked and shuddered. "But could you call the team in…ask what's taking them so long?"

As the boy complied, Heatwave felt his grip slip fractionally on the Praxian's wrist, more due to the numbness steadily spreading down is arm than anything else. "Just leave me here," the young bot said suddenly, tone weary. "You've got your human to protect."

Heatwave grip slacked again, and he swore to the heavens before focusing on the child inside him. "They said that they'll be here in two—"

"Cody, I want you to run."

The boy blinked, uncomprehending. "W-what?"

Heatwave cycled air through his vents before repeating his demand. "I want you to run. Get as far away as you can and find the others."

Cody forcefully shook his head, tightly gripping his seatbelt. "Heatwave, I'm not leaving—"

"Go. _Now_." Before Cody could argue again, his seatbelt retracted and the thick windshield lowered. The boy climbed out with a frown, but once he was on solid ground and saw the true extent of his friend's damage, he paled and hurriedly activated his com.

"Don't bother, Cody," Heatwave interrupted, and the child froze, "they'll get here when they get here. But right now I want you to run."

At the steely look in his guardian's optics, Cody didn't argue.

Once the boy was gone, the Praxian sighed. "Do you have some kind of hero complex?" Heatwave only grunted in response, more because of the pain than anything else. "I mean, I'm sure your team needs you. You're the leader, aren't you? Prime mentioned that you were a stubborn pain the aft, but I thought he was just exaggerating. I can just let go right now, you know that right? I'm not gonna drag us both down—"the groan and shriek of metal silenced the white and blue bot, and Heatwave moaned as the stressed cables in his arm were pulled tighter. His servo loosened again.

"I wonder how I get myself into these things," Heatwave mumbled, and he felt the warrior hanging off his arm tense.

"I could let go right now," the Praxian said again, his own grip slackened purposefully. "Save yourself and the kid—"

"How about you shut it for a minute, kid?" Heatwave ordered crossly, waiting for the sound of spinning blades. His patience was rewarded when from above the treetops Blades came soaring into view, Boulder and Chase following on the dirt road below. The trio transformed and hurried to their side, sidestepping any Decepticon corpses, Blades and Boulder running to pull the Praxian up from the precipice.

Once the numbing pain in his arm had lessened Chase offered a servo, one that Heatwave grudgingly took with his functional servo. "I do not believe charging into battle unprepared to be proper protocol," the police-bot commented dryly, the relieved faces of Cody and Chief Burns visible through his windshield.

Heatwave only rolled his eyes at his teammate, before turning back to the cliff face as Boulder and Blades pulled the white and blue bot to his feet. The helicopter-bot looked horrified upon seeing the warrior's wounds, his minimal medical training kicking in as he radioed Dani to drive the Mobile Headquarters over to their position.

Ignoring Chase's lecture on procedure and hazard, Heatwave made his way over to the Praxian, leaning heavily on one side as Boulder and Blades examined his wounds. The white and blue bot pointedly avoided the Rescue Bot's gaze, glancing off somewhere to his right. Heatwave smirked.

"You did alright, kid," he finally said over Blades' own nagging. The warrior smirked.

"You too, old timer." He stuck out a servo, mindful of which one he chose, and Heatwave shook it. "I never did get your name though."

"Heatwave," the elder bot huffed. The Praxian's smirk grew as he responded.

"Nice to meetcha, 'Wave. Name's Smokescreen."


	12. Chapter 12

**_Owed_**

**_A/N: _**_I'm so, so sorry it took me so long to update this pathetic story. If anyone is still following this, I do hope you enjoy it! This is set post-"Darkest Hour" and after the season finale of Rescue Bots._

_Please enjoy and leave a review!_

_Oh, and a happy New Year to you all!_

* * *

><p>It was early Sunday morning when Cody detected the Cybertronian life signal on the mainland.<p>

Chase and Boulder had added the scanner to the command center's tech after their return from Moropolis, a case of paranoia in one and tactfully hidden caution in the other. The sensor's range extended all the way to the next state, just in case any other Autobots came near or happened to intercept Optimus Prime's message. In truth, they all knew it was a countermeasure against Decepticon attack.

Cody had been alone in the command center when the scanner chimed, and the boy had nearly leapt out of his seat at the unfamiliar sound. The Rescue Bots were down in the bunker, recharging or watching television, Kade and Graham were still asleep, and Dani in her pajamas and Charlie had yet to drink his morning coffee.

All Sunday morning plans were torn asunder by the boy's panicked announcement at 0800 hours. The boy's sibling scrambled to get into their vehicles, while Charlie dealt with his youngest who stubbornly refused to remain in the firehouse. Even with a few well-meaning warnings on part of the Autobots and a direct refusal from Kade, Cody remained unmoving on the matter. It was only after some more pleading and his promise to run if the meeting went sour did Chase grudgingly unlock his passenger side door and the chief allowed him in.

The four robots left the firehouse in a flurry of tires and smoke, communicating via their inner com lines as they reached the shoreline and drove straight into the ocean. Driving across the seabed would be faster than taking the ferry. Though, throughout the entire journey not a single soul could keep their thoughts surrounding the mysterious signal to themselves, so much that their coms were clogged with chatter.

"I wonder if it'll be another warrior to join Optimus' team!" Blades opined brightly. No one commented on the fact that the Prime's weekly check-ins had stopped for some time now.

"Or a scientist," Graham said, with encouragement from Boulder.

"Does it matter?" Kade demanded sourly as Heatwave drove past coral reefs and schools of fish.

"Whoever it is they had better adhere to standard Earth law and police protocol," Chase said huffily.

"Or maybe another flyer?" Dani pointed out hopefully, despite Blades' morose whimper.

Chief Burns cleared his throat to quiet the babble. "_Or_ this Cybertronian could be a hostile force." All rescue personnel were silent, and Charlie continued. "Now it's most likely not one of Optimus' teammates, seeing as how they usually contact us when one of them is in the area. So I want everyone on their guard—even if it _is_ a new Autobot, they may not distinguish us from the enemy."

A chorus of _yes sirs_ went across the channel and conversations continued in private for the remainder of their drive. Not much later, however, they were emerging on the mainland's shore by the docks, and Chief Burns swiftly disembarked to explain to the dockworkers why three emergency vehicles had just driven out of the ocean and one helicopter above.

Upon his return Charlie ordered his team to split up, Blades and Dani sticking to the sky while the others spread out around the docks. The Com Tab in Cody's lap, synced with the command center computer, helpfully displayed that the Cybertronian signal was coming from nearby.

"Look for anything strange or out of place," Charlie advised before they separated. "Even if they _have_ chosen a vehicular mode, it may not be a standard one."

Blades hadn't even been hovering over the docks for five minutes before he found something decidedly odd in the shipping yard very near to the Griffin Rock ferry. He called it in before Dani had fully spotted it.

"Um…does an ambulance in a shipping yard qualify as 'strange or out of place'?"

In an instant the other Rescue Bots had swooped in on Blades' location, cautiously approaching the parked vehicle.

"This is too weird," Kade murmured over the com line and Heatwave rumbled an agreement as the group inched forward. "I mean…look at it. It's almost like it's waiting for us."

Once more his siblings and colleagues agreed as they approached. The ambulance was parked snugly between two stacks of shipping containers, hidden from the view unless they were in air. It did not move, and not even a single light flickered.

"Could it be asleep?" Cody offered. "Or…recharging?"

"Maybe we shouldn't bother him," Blades offered meekly.

"No," Heatwave decided, straightening in the shadows cast by yet another row of shipping containers. "We have to find out if it's hostile." Kade's tightened grip on his steering wheel demonstrated his consent.

The garnet-colored leader stepped out into the ambulance's 'line of sight', lifting his servos in a placating gesture belied by his large, intimidating form. "My designation is Heatwave, leader of Rescue Force Sigma-17. We mean you no harm."

There was a beat of silence, and the only sound heard could be the steady rushing of nearby ocean waves, before the ambulance shuddered on its axles. Its surface rippled once more before splitting apart and reforming in the shape of an orange and white Cybertronian about as tall as Chase with a thin chevron across his brow. He eyed Heatwave with a critical and unimpressed cerulean optic before scoffing openly.

"Well I certainly _hope_ that you mean me no harm. It would not end well for you or your teammates, I assure you." He waved a lazy servo in the direction of the shipping containers behind which the other Rescue Bots were hiding. "They can come out, if they'd like."

Backstrut rigid, Heatwave jerked his helm to the side, signaling for the others to step out from their coverts. The four collectively observed the clearly older Cybertronian in silence for many seconds, who in turn rifled through a medical kit at his hip.

"You're an Autobot," Heatwave said, stating a fact. The medic harrumphed in the back of his throat; a _human_ gesture, as the Rescue Bots had learned.

"Give the kid a prize," he muttered, before turning and giving Heatwave his full attention. "Ratchet, chief medical officer to Optimus Prime." There was no tremor to his voice when he mentioned his as-of-late absent leader, but he didn't mask the bitterness that crept into his tone instead. The tension of the situation did not waver much, and under the reproachful optic of the aged medic the four young Autobots felt like children being reprimanded for impoliteness toward an elder.

"Well?" Ratchet began irritably, waving a servo in their direction. "Aren't the rest of you going to introduce yourselves?"

They would later think it odd, how at that moment under the steady ribbing of a Cybertronian none of them had met before that the heavy tension abruptly faded. The Rescue Bots were quick to say their names.

Ratchet nodded once, mumbling something indistinguishable under his breath, before looking back up at them again. "You are all accounted for then," he said.

Chase was quick to interrupt, after prompting from one of the humans still within him. "Actually, sir, that is not entirely true." At the strange look and furrowed optical ridges he was sent, the police-bot opened his windshield and held out a servo for Chief Burns to climb onto.

Ratchet watched at first with a neutral expression as the gray-haired police man stood on Chase's palm, optics carefully hopping from Rescue Bot to Rescue Bot, most likely deducing that there were adult humans within each of them, as he'd most likely been informed previously. But then Cody followed his father onto Chase's servo, and the medic's features became truly frightening.

For many quick seconds Ratchet looked torn between terribly wanting to chew someone out and snatch the child from their inadequate protection, sporting an expression so akin to a sneer that it would not look ill-suited on a Decepticon. There was a slight tremor to his limbs that only the Rescue Bots and Chief Burns noticed as Cody carefully climbed onto the police-bots appendage. Though the moment was brief, the hollow, fiery look in Ratchet's optics, which were once filled with a cool indifference, showed just how difficult it was to contain himself from resorting to action that he would inevitably regret. Although it was clear that the boy's presence had unsettled him in some way.

Ratchet inhaled deeply through his intake manifolds, though it sounded more like a human sigh than anything else, the trembling stopped, and he tore his gaze away from the boy and in that instant looked indescribably weak. When he'd turned back to the Rescue Bots his optics were cooler, and there was no hint that his near-episode had ever happened. He nodded toward the perturbed police officer still in Chase's palm.

"First of all, Ratchet," Charlie began, a note of uncertainty in his voice. "My team can take very good care of themselves, with or without the Rescue Bots help. Though we do appreciate the concern." The medic nodded stiffly, and while his optics were miles away, it still looked like he had to bite his glossa to contain a scathing retort. "Anyway, I'm Chief Charlie Burns of Griffin Rock. My eldest children are partnered with the Rescue Bots—Kade, Graham, and Dani." Each of them waved from within their designated partner. Charlie levelly met the medic's cool gaze. "Why have you come, Ratchet? You obviously knew that you would be detected this close to Griffin Rock."

Ratchet half shrugged with one rotator cup. "I was in the general area and low on energon. Optimus informed me of your location and I decided to drop by for a…visit, of sorts. To check on your progress and such." He tilted his helm slightly to the side in question. "I hope that this is not a problem?"

Charlie shook his head. "Of course not. We welcome any of Optimus' team. Are you ready to go to the island now?"

Ratchet nodded, transforming quickly back to vehicle mode. The Rescue Bots followed suite, leading the way for the ambulance.

"So we're just letting him came back home with us?" Kade demanded irately over the com line. "This 'bot who _says_ he's Prime's medic?"

"Optimus _has_ mentioned him before," Boulder said. "Even though Bumblebee was the only one of his Autobots who ever visited."

"You know, I always wondered about that," Dani inputted. "Why didn't Optimus ever let any of his team come down?"

"It doesn't matter, team," Charlie interrupted. "Ratchet's here and we don't know how long he's going to stay. I'm sure he'll tell us in due time why he's come now."

As the com lines once again dwindled into general conversation, Cody tugged on his father's sleeve.

"Dad, _do_ you know why Ratchet's here?" he asked worriedly as they reached the dock, and Ratchet somehow tapped into their com links and informed them succinctly that by no means would he travel to Griffin Rock underwater and demanded to take the ferry.

Charlie exhaled heavily. "Son, I really have no idea."

00000000

Ratchet began joining the team on missions not even a week after his arrival.

His choice to accompany them went unvoiced, though the few that had tried to question it had swiftly given up upon the deadpanned or cantankerous look the aged medic would grace them with. Ratchet acted not only as a human medic, delivering necessary information to Dani and Blades or driving the injured humans to the hospital himself despite any complaints on his part, but he was also as a Cybertronian one, repairing any dents or more damaging wounds the Rescue Bots acquired. He hardly spoke of his team, and when he did it would be a mumbled criticism; like when Heatwave leapt into a ravine to catch a falling car and bled bright blue energon from a tear in his side, and Ratchet knocked a few more dents into his helm with whatever tool was in reach of his servo as he repaired him, muttering "dense as dirt…One of the most idiotic ideas I've ever heard of…Bulkhead wasn't even this reckless…".

Ratchet's presence on missions acted as a calming agent. The other Autobots knew that they had a seasoned medic among them, one who, admittedly, swore at them and batted them around with his trusty wrench more often than he gave helpful counsel. He wasn't social, however. After a job well-done he would scuttle back to his personal quarters in the bunker, which had become more of a lab than somewhere fit for recharge. Doc Greene had been more than happy to donate whatever tech he no longer needed or utilized, and had even offered to help the Cybertronian scientist with any projects of his. And while it was safe to say that while Ratchet was nearly always polite with the humans and performed as a mindless robot flawlessly, he could be insulting and criticizing just as easily, doing so with hardly raising his voice. Greene was quickly ejected from the bunker, but still followed Ratchet in a lost, hopeful fashion whenever either came around.

And furthermore, not even a week later, Chief Burns also received a call from the Pentagon.

Charlie had excused himself from the table during breakfast to speak in private, and returned drawn and pale.

"Dad?" Cody asked, and his siblings waited in silence, allowing him to question his father. "What happened? Who called?"

Charlie cleared his throat, falling back into his seat. He picked up his mug of coffee but didn't drink from it. "That was Special Agent Fowler," he began, looking down at his drink as if hoping it would provide him an answer or the words to continue. "And um…he said…" His children sat on the edge of their seats, worriedly confounded by their father's inability to speak.

"What did he say, Dad?" Kade demanded, and was shushed by Dani and Graham. Charlie inhaled sharply.

"Turn on the news, Cody. Please."

Cody blinked but did as he was told, passing over Huxley's daily report and pausing at the Worldwide News Network. On the screen, described by one of the news anchors, was a massive, metal structure hundreds of feet high amid an otherwise barren dessert. It was clearly not man-made and the headline beneath it read 'Alien's among us? Unearthly fortress created in Jasper, Nevada—hidden by government'.

The table was utterly silent, and Cody hardly felt his thumb press against the volume button to make the anchor heard.

"—apparently built a little over a week ago, this 'alien fortress' reportedly appeared in Jasper, Nevada after the town's population had been evacuated. Witnesses say that a beam of light descended from the clouds and shook the ground, this tremor extending for many miles. When it had gone the building was in its place. The President has yet to make a formal address of the matter, and the Pentagon is also keeping quiet. The question on everyone's mind, however, is are there _really_ aliens, and if so, how long have they been here in—"

The television powered down with a cheerful whir, courtesy of Kade, who had taken the remote from Cody's limp fingers. The five of them were quiet for many minutes after, their breakfasts untouched. Finally, Dani cleared her throat and reached for her father's hand across the table.

"Dad…the bots?"

Charlie had not looked up from his mug, though the coffee had long since cooled, and he did not answer.

"Optimus and the others," Graham tried, consternation flickering behind his glasses. "What happened to them?"

Unable to contain himself, Kade slammed a hand onto the table, startling all but his father. "Darn it, Dad, what's happened?!"

Charlie finally looked up to meet his son's burning gaze. "I don't know," he said honestly. "Fowler said that their base was destroyed. They haven't been able to complete a full search with the Decepticons over their heads, but they have verified that there are…no survivors. Human or Autobot."

"But Ratchet's here," Kade pointed out, brow furrowing. "He may be able to tell us what happened."

"_If_ he'll talk," Graham said. "We'll need to be gentle and give him time—he may have lost his entire team, Kade."

"Guys," Dani whispered, face pale, though the tremor in her tone obtained her family's attention. "Where's Cody?"

000000

"Do you often bother the Rescue Bots in their free time as well?" Ratchet asked aloud as he tightened the final bolt on his test engine. Cody, taking the medic's complaint as consent to enter, let the human-sized door slide closed behind him.

"I just came to check up on you, is all," Cody said innocently as he walked over to Ratchet's side, stopping when he was level with his ankle. "We never see you and you hardly leave your cave."

"It's a laboratory," Ratchet mumbled sourly, stooping down to pick up the boy and drop him on the high counter in a movement so swift and natural that for half a second Cody couldn't believe it had happened. As Cody sat down to watch Ratchet's nimble servos glance over the nooks and crannies of the test engine, the medic said, in a surprisingly conversational tone, "Didn't your family warn you about me and my temperament? Wouldn't want me 'biting your head off', so to speak."

Cody shrugged, sitting down in a cross-legged position. "Heatwave did say you might be in one of your moods, but I know you wouldn't hurt me."

The boy was too busy picking at a loose string on his sleeve to notice Ratchet's servos still over the engine. "And how are you so certain of this?" he inquired grimly, tightening any loose bolts he found.

Cody ran a hand through his hair, brushing it from his eyes. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I just am." He leaned forward and tried to turn his head sideways to meet the medic's lowered optics. "And besides, do you remember when we first met? I saw that you looked perfectly fine with my dad and Kade and the others being partnered with the bots, but then you saw _me_ and you almost lost it." Cody blinked. "Why?"

Ratchet slammed his wrench down onto his worktable, making the boy jump. "If living with giant alien robots isn't danger enough, partaking with 'missions of mercy' certainly is." He wrenched open a cabinet behind him that Cody hadn't noticed before, pulling out a large container of some strange, glowing green liquid. "I mean, _look at you_!" Ratchet jerked a servo in Cody's general direction as he snapped the container into an injector. "Barely a child." He then inserted it into the fuel tank of the test engine, talking and gesturing wildly with one servo all the while. "And yes, you may have your big, strong Autobots to protect you, but the war front is no place for a child, much less a _human_ child, to—"

"But Ratchet," Cody interrupted softly. "We're not _in_ a war."

Ratchet seemed to freeze, servos completely still as the last drops of the green liquid dripped into the test engine. His optics were very far away, and Cody was quite sure that he was not seeing the plain steel walls of his storage room-turned laboratory.

"N-no, of course not," he said after a good while, pulling the injector out of the engine and setting it aside with unsteady articulators.

"Ratchet," Cody tried, standing up. "Please tell me."

"Tell you _what_?" the medic snapped, optics like ice. His servos had not stopped trembling.

Cody swallowed as he was held by Ratchet's steely gaze, feeling like a pinned insect up for display. "What-what happened, Ratchet. Please tell me."

Ratchet looked away and began to fiddle with the engine again. As the seconds stretched into minutes Cody feared that the medic would never speak and he began to look for a way down when—

"There were three children in our company."

Cody paused at the edge of the counter, staying silent to ponder if he'd heard right, before whirling back to face the medic. Ratchet stood hunched over his experiment as usual, wrench hovering over his glowing test engine, though his optics were distant once again. The boy swallowed. "What were—"

"Their names were Jack, Miko, and Rafael," Ratchet interrupted, voice so much softer than Cody was used to. "Bright young things, all of them. Annoying as micro-scraplets, yes, but…"Ratchet turned his helm away, his optics tightly shut. "You and Rafael are quite alike. I have no doubt that you would have become friends—oh, why am I telling you this?!" the medic suddenly barked, pounding a fist onto the counter and nearly making Cody lose his balance. "You're only a child, you couldn't possibly understand—"Despite his rage, Ratchet's expression was still very far away and so full of pain. This time, however, it was Cody who interceded.

"I _do_ understand, Ratchet," he pleaded, stepping closer to the seething medic. "Optimus and Bumblebee were my _friends_—just like they were yours." Cody rested a hand on Ratchet's servo, the larger appendage dwarfing his own so much it was nearly comical. "_Please_ tell me what happened to everyone."

Ratchet only flinched slightly at the contact, and he avoided eye contact for several moments, indescribable emotion swirling behind his glowing optics. When he finally met Cody's gaze he exvented again in a way that sounded similar to sigh.

"I take it Agent Fowler took the liberty of contacting your family?"

Cody nodded. "He called my dad."

The Cybertronian hummed. "Then you know that we are no longer a government secret."

"I saw what the Decepticons did," Cody murmured, gazing down at the hand that Ratchet had not dislodged from his servo despite his clear dislike for human contact. "And I saw the base. Did…did everyone…?"

Ratchet nodded stiffly. "The children left with their Autobot guardians through the Ground Bridge. We scattered all over your world."

Cody knew that something was amiss by the way Ratchet so calmly and smoothly explained matters that were clearly far worse than how he told them. "E-everyone?" he asked, voice wavering with what he knew was to come.

Ratchet tightened his articulators around the edge of the countertop, leaving light gouges in the metal. His admittance would only make what happened reality, one that had been successfully unheeded and denied in a cloud of ignorant bliss for the past week. But by the wide innocent eyes Cody looked up at him with, Ratchet could not deny himself or the boy the truth any longer.

"Optimus stayed behind to ensure that the Decepticons could not follow."

000000

In another week Bulkhead and Miko had joined them.

The girl made fast friends with Dani and Frankie, and would constantly demand that Blades take her on rides over the island. She was a ball of unstoppable energy, and followed each Rescue Bot around like a lost puppy for the first few days of her arrival. Miko hardly saw new Autobots and discovering four more was practically a dream come true. Although, the moment she and Bulkhead pulled into the driveway of the firehouse and Miko spotted Ratchet among the gathered bots she had raced out and made a beeline for him, wrapping her arms as well as she could around the crotchety medic's ankle, babbling about how much she had missed him.

Ratchet feigned annoyance when Miko would not leave his side, though when he thought no one was looking he would watch the energetic girl with warmth and gratitude.

Bulkhead, however, had duties of his own. When he wasn't keeping an eye on Miko he was training the Rescue Bots for battlefield combat. Heatwave took to the lessons like a fish to water and once Bulkhead decided he had learned enough he had the fire-bot teach his teammates. Even Ratchet's medical lessons grew more intense.

It was clear that the pair was readying the untrained Rescue Bots for a war that would soon arrive at their front door, and while they were hidden from Decepticon attention for now by a signal-masking barrier constructed by Ratchet, Boulder, Doc Greene, and Graham, their safety would not last forever.

It was a month before Bumblebee and Rafael arrived with an unknown bot named Jazz who set up a boot camp for the Autobots. As Ratchet had guessed, Rafael and Cody got along famously and helped outfit the Command Center computer with a firewall strong enough to keep even Soundwave out.

Arcee, Jack, and Smokescreen were the last, coming to Griffin Rock two and a half months later. The young Praxian and Chase were quick to butt heads, while Arcee joined as another instructor. Jack made it his priority to watch over the children.

Throughout the chaos of the months following Ratchet's initial arrival, Griffin Rock had changed as well.

After Megatron's first televised address to the planet, declaring who and what he was and his intentions, Mayor Lusky and his wife were some of the first to flee the island. The townsfolk were also quick to connect the dots surrounding their robotic protectors' true origins and many left just as quickly as the mayor. Those that remained, Doc Greene, Professor Baranova, the Pfeiffers, Mrs. Neederlander, Haley, and Huxley Prescott, for example, worked together to keep Griffin Rock running and protected. Others were simply far too stubborn to leave their home, and had no qualms about the Autobots' presence.

The Autobots looked to Ratchet for guidance and leadership yet again, though now their leader was gone for good and not in the thrall of their enemy. It was difficult to decide which would've been worse.

Ratchet doubted himself, as he always did when in command. He was not meant to create battle strategies, even if Jazz had quite a firm grasp on the subject, nor lead troops into battle. They were still few in number, though he did send out another encoded Autobot signal into space, hoping for more recruits. Optimus Prime was gone, however. And Ratchet knew that without their Prime there would be very few Autobots answering to the call.

But with every feeling of self-doubt that grew, he would watch one or all of the children joke with their family, human and Autobot, or Rafael would give him an encouraging word when attempting to help him hack into the_ Nemesis_' mainframe, or Miko would make fun of him again, or Cody would look at him with his bottomless and knowing dark eyes, still so full of innocence despite all he had seen and would see, and Ratchet would know that he couldn't surrender. Until he was under Megatron's heelstrut, plasma cannon to his helm, he would protect whoever of his teammates were left. He owed Optimus, and Cody, that at the very least.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hand in Hand**_

_**A/N:** All right, so I lied about this chapter coming sooner. I'm really, really sorry, but schoolwork piled up and I was slammed with tests, barely leaving anytime for writing, but here it is! A continuation of last chapter, this time surrounding Optimus and Wheeljack and a few others. I can't thank you all enough for staying with this story, and your encouragement has been greatly appreciated. Special thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, especially sixsamchaos who gave me the idea for this installment.  
><em>

_If you would like to see further continuation of this story line, or a return to unrelated one shots, be sure to say so! _

_(and if you see a character you don't recognize, be sure to look them up on tf wiki . net or just message me if you're really curious :) )_

_Transformers (c) Hasbro _

* * *

><p>Darkness gradually left his vision and was replaced with the smoking, sparking, and caved-in interior of the Jackhammer.<p>

Wheeljack moaned as pain coursed through every panel of his frame, and while not a novel feeling it was one he certainly never enjoyed. He leaned forward enough that his aching helm rested against the ship's main controls, fried and bent and just as damaged as the rest of the craft.

The armor over his left rotator cup had been melted through by the explosion that had grounded him, and when he shifted his upper body anymore in the slightest he could feel the shrapnel peppering his left side and shoulder as it dug painfully into the luckily nonessential circuits below his panels.

He released a hiss through his dentals, containing and classifying the injuries into 'Searing Pain That Made Him Want to Bite Bite Off His Glossa By How He Was Containing His Screams' and 'Agonizing but Manageable' categories. _What was it that Miko once said; _he thought wildly, _'suck it up'?_

Wheeljack raised the servo that was the least sore and thumbed the console to activate the ship's mainframe, hoping it wasn't too damaged.

"Computer, damage report," he ordered wearily, and carefully sat up in his chair.

"_Starboard engine detached, critical damage to hull, and shield power is at 20%. Autopilot has been disabled, and hairline cracks are present in the cockpit glass resulted from impact. Estimated repair time: 40 solar cycles."_

Wheeljack groaned again, this time out of exasperation instead of pain. "The 'Cons must think I'm offline if they haven't finished me off," he said to himself, if only to hear a voice that wasn't that of the computer's monotone. "How long have I been in stasis?" he asked louder.

"_Approximately four Earth hours."_

The Wrecker grunted as he rose from his seat, an annoying twinge beneath the armor of his right knee added to his growing list of ailments.

"Not long then," he muttered. His digits rested on the ravaged console in a moment of pensive silence, hovering over the comm. He made up his mind in the next second, calling over the 'waves with a brief report.

"Wheeljack to Autobot Outpost Omega One. You 'bots alive in there?"

Wheeljack was met with the jarring though not entirely unexpected blast of static. He tried contacting them several more times, more out of his own stubbornness than actual hope of their survival, before the ache over the entire left side of his chassis grew into an unbearable pain and he was forced to crouch among the wreckage and complete a quick diagnostic and repair. He was in a hurry to get out and assist the 'bots, and he would be of no help if he slipped into stasis from energon depletion. As it was, the longer he was online the more wounds surfaced. The left side of his faceplate stung something fierce, but he ignored it and other superficial injuries in his hurry to the entrance, even if he had to wade through and around bent pieces of the hull and fallen cables to get there. Through cracks in the ceiling moonlight shone onto his scarred and blackened armor as he kicked the sluggish gangplank open.

Wheeljack stepped out into a cloudless Nevada night, a slender crescent moon providing a limited light source in the endless dark blue of the desert. His ship had crashed at the foot of one of many buttes, and as he observed the wreckage from outside it was a wonder he had survived.

He limped around the rock so that he was in view of the butte that hid the base—only that it wasn't there. Correction; the foundation of the stone was still there, but the rest had been blown apart and left to smolder like a gutted animal, black smoke still rising from the center.

Wheeljack would later claim madness as his spark concaved and the bitter feeling of dread filled him—no room for second guesses or wild hopes with the final symbol of the Autobot cause blown to Kingdom Come. A shadow had fallen across him; one he allowed himself was to believe was only another one of the desert's countless rock formations and not the Decepticons' newest fortress.

Without a word—for whatever could encompass the horror of such events—Wheeljack transformed and sped over to the remains of the base, exacerbating his injuries in the process.

He reverted to bipedal mode once he'd arrived, critically observing whatever remained of the original structure. The automated entrance had caved in, and portions of the rocky exterior remained standing high above him, though areas of it had collapsed under their own weight. It was over these that Wheeljack clambered into what was left of Autobot Outpost Omega One.

After sifting through the ruble for an Earth hour, Wheeljack found no trace of anything Cybertronian—living or dead—although that still told him nothing. Megatron could have come and disposed of the bodies, for all he knew, or perhaps fashioned a throne out of them—it seemed sadistic enough on Megatron's part.

Wheeljack growled at the thought of filthy Decepticon servos on the blasted frames of the Autobots, never given a proper ceremony fit for warriors of the highest caliber—before he realized what exactly he was imagining.

"You don't know if they're offline, you sick slagger," he swore, standing with his shoulders stooped over the Autobot sigil on the deck of the ruined base. Wheeljack ran a weary servo down the length of his faceplate, an action he'd seen Ratchet do a time or two when he or the children had him at his wits end, though the Wrecker now felt numb as he copied the (possibly) late medic. He didn't even notice how his servo came away sticky with energon.

Wheeljack continued his search, trudging around charred rubble, random components of consoles too fried to be of use anymore, and piles and piles of debris that had become too mangled to discern their original identity. There was no trace of the Autobots' GroundBridge.

He had climbed around a twisted metal frame, perhaps something that was left from a railing or light support, when he noticed something odd about the rubble surrounding it. There was a large gap in the debris, as if whatever had been embedded there had simply decided to up and walk away, and raising his helm, Wheeljack found another area of rubble had been disrupted, forming a sort of trail, marking the passage of the entity outside the wreckage.

Wheeljack rose from the crouch he had fallen into to nurse his bad knee and followed the trail, finding that it stopped at the rim of the ruined base.

Hope blossomed within him, however pathetic and rare, and he quickly scaled the craggy outcrop and leapt back down into the cool desert sand, the cool blues of the night a pleasant contrast against the burning red and black smoke he so often associated with war. The calming presence of the desert disappeared in an instant when his right knee gave out as he landed, and as the circuits and tendons twisted he had to grit his dentals to contain his cry of pain.

As the sharpness of his injury began to give way to a throbbing ache Wheeljack could ignore, he carefully bent down and made out drag marks in the dirt, continuing on into the distance. With a sigh, though he didn't spare the gutted base a last look, he transformed and followed the tracks. They didn't go on for very long, heading away from open desert into the collection of buttes set in a canyon wide enough to easily hide a Cybertronian.

He stopped at the edge of these mountains and reverted to robot mode, setting his scanners to pick up any nearby life signals as he stepped into the canyon. There was definitely a Cybertronian nearby, but the crash had messed with his scanner (and everything else) so he couldn't pinpoint its location. In the end he wouldn't need to. Just as Wheeljack rounded on a final outcropping, he found Optimus Prime leaning against the base of another.

"Leakin' lubricants, Prime," he muttered as he limped over, ignoring the relief that flooded his spark, "You had me looking all over the entire slaggin' desert. Where are the others, did they—"Wheeljack's words died and shriveled up on his glossa once he realized that Optimus was not going to answer. His posture was slumped, not tall and sturdy as usual, his optics dim, and he was missing his left arm from the elbow down.

Wheeljack moved quickly, battle honed instincts taking over as he retrieved his toolbox from his subspace in one instant and wrenched the Prime's spark chamber open in the next. His spark was weak, but still beating beneath its Matrix sheaf. Wheeljack didn't stop to express his relief.

Closing Optimus' spark chamber, he began to work on patching up the energon leaking out of innumerable scratches and gouges in his mesh, starting with the stump of a left arm. After a swift diagnostic, Wheeljack found that the limb had been (_Blown off? It seemed likel_y) severed below the main tendons of the elbow, so a replacement could be easily made and attached.

Wheeljack had just finished patching some of the Prime's more troublesome wounds, the latest being one that was worryingly deep and near to his spark chamber, and to repair it the Wrecker had to nearly lean against the Prime's shoulder to reach it properly, when his patient's optics flared to life.

The previously prone Autobot jolted out of stasis, bucking Wheeljack off of him and trained the glowing muzzle of his lone cannon at his chest plate. Before Wheeljack's shock could be replaced with outrage, Optimus pulled himself to his pedes, his gun never once leaving the white blur his cracked optics saw before him.

"State your designation and your intentions," Optimus boomed, his commanding velvet timber belied by the quaking of his limbs.

"Should've fixed the optics first," Wheeljack muttered, before saying louder, "It's me, Optimus."

The Prime blinked, sporting an uncharacteristic expression of astonishment. "Wheeljack…." He rumbled, before his stabilizing servos gave out from under him. Wheeljack was there to support him in a second, his right knee and shoulders screaming from the pressure as he helped the red and blue behemoth sit back down.

"You're alive," Optimus murmured before affixing his glassy gaze to the left of where Wheeljack was. "And the others?"

The Wrecker had turned to rifle through his limited tool arsenal for something that would temporarily repair the Prime's vision. "Not sure," he answered honestly. "I didn't find anything that could've led to a body."

Optimus nodded, ignoring the implication behind Wheeljack's words. "Of course, they departed by Space Bridge. They were gone once Megatron attacked," he mumbled, and while Wheeljack dare not infer, it seemed as if the mighty Optimus Prime was talking to himself.

"They left?" Wheeljack asked, unable to hide the surprise from his vocals as he fiddled with the wires at the back of the Prime's helm. Optimus allowed the Wrecker to complete his repairs, unseeing optics trained across the desert.

"They scattered all over the Earth," Optimus said, just as Wheeljack deactivated his optical receptors. Alarmed, he groped for purchase on the stone behind him in a failed attempt to stand again. "Wheeljack—!"

"_Relax_," Wheeljack interrupted, moving one servo from the bunch of wires to clamp it on the Prime's shoulder. "I just cut the power to your optics for the time being. You'll strain yourself if you keep trying to see out of cracked lenses."

"Is the damage…repairable?" Optimus questioned after a moment, and Wheeljack chuckled as he returned his tool box to subspace and draped the Prime's complete arm over his shoulders, helping him to his feet.

"Well I may be no Ratchet, but I think you'll live," Wheeljack joked, and felt a sense of achievement at the Prime's small quirk of the lips.

"We must retrieve the Star Saber from the base," Optimus said as they trudged out of the canyon, Wheeljack's knee joint already aching.

Wheeljack huffed as he judged the distance to the remains of the butte. "Well maybe you shouldn't have wandered so far."

Despite the obvious insubordination, the gears in Optimus' throat made a sound akin to a hum. "Perhaps. Although I did not know if the Decepticons had gone or if they were aware of my failed termination."

"My guess is they weren't," Wheeljack said, glancing pointedly at the very Decepticon-less night sky—excluding the fortress—that he knew Optimus could not see.

"Indeed."

The pair fell silent, and only the creaks and groans of their beaten frames were heard in the wide open desert as they strained to continue their trek. Wheeljack made them stop when it became clear that the blind Prime needed time to rest, and his new battle scars would glow silver in the moonlight as he hunched over the much-smaller Autobot to regain what little strength he had.

"So what's this 'Star Saber' of yours," Wheeljack muttered once the remains of the base were only a few dozen yards away. With the moon shining directly over it, illuminating the rubble that once made up a home, it reminded him of an animal left to die more than ever.

Optimus Prime was quiet for a moment, and the sound of sand crunching beneath their pedes suddenly seemed much louder. "We did not inform you enough on what was occurring."

Wheeljack half-shrugged. "It's all right. I know you had bigger things on your plate. Plus, I bet Ratchet wasn't particularly inclined to have me along after that stunt I pulled Miko into."

The Prime shook his helm. "That does not excuse my negligence. You would have been a helpful asset, though I—"

"Listen, it's fine," Wheeljack interrupted, his second act of insubordination. "I understand. Now, what's the Star Saber?"

Optimus did not respond for a moment, and for a millisecond Wheeljack thought he would be reprimanded, but then he sighed and relented.

"It is a sword of tremendous power, crafted by one of the original Thirteen, which can only be wielded by a Prime." Even as he spoke of the sword to end all wars, by his deadened optics it was clear that he would be having a proper conversation with the Wrecker once their injuries had both been tended to. He continued gravely. "I do not believe the explosion would have destroyed it, nor the Forge."

Wheeljack whistled. "Wow. Important stuff, then. We're gonna need a way to haul 'em around, plus make repairs…"

"Your ship…?"

"Believe it or not, the Jackhammer's in more need of repairs than we are."

Optimus bowed his helm for a klik and when he looked back up, while still dim, his optics shone brightly beneath their darkness, and a chaste smile—almost a smirk, but not quite—was tugging at his faceplate.

"As luck would have it, I believe that we possess something that will manage our needs."

* * *

><p>It turned out that Optimus Prime had a fragging space ship in storage.<p>

To be fair, it was little more than a shuttle by most standards, though twenty times the size of the Jackhammer and built especially so taller mechs like Optimus didn't need to duck to get around.

Before they'd gotten to the ship, stored in a bunker smaller than Autobot Outpost Omega One and not far from the ruined base, they had gone for Optimus' weapons. Both were found unscathed, as he said they would be, with only a thin layer of dirt and ash over the Saber and Forge telling what they had gone through.

Once they had arrived at the ship, and the Wrecker had finished fawning over its sleek gold surfaces and stellar controls, he'd directed it to the Jackhammer, where he had it lifted into the cargo hold. From there he took his entire medical kit and got to work finishing his repairs on the Prime.

"So what're we gonna do once we're done with all this?" Wheeljack probed as he set to reactivating Optimus' optics. "Are we looking for the others?"

"You do not feel the need to…'work alone'?" Optimus answered carefully, and Wheeljack's servos stilled as he scoffed.

"I'm pretty sure I'm needed as a team player from now on," Wheeljack said with a smirk. "Now, about joining the others…?"

Wheeljack felt the Prime's wide shoulders lower in a soundless sigh. "We cannot contact the Autobots without jeopardizing their positions, putting both them and the children at risk. The Decepticons are stronger now—we can afford no mistakes."

The Wrecker nodded stiffly, despite the ache in his spark at not even being able to hear Bulkhead or Miko's voice. "So Team Prime's on the run, then?" he asked rhetorically, but Optimus nodded all the same. Despite the somber air that had befallen them, Wheeljack took the time to grin regardless of the pain it caused his scarred faceplate.

"Then I think some reinforcements are in order."

Even blind, Optimus' skeptical, suspicious gaze was as potent as it had ever been.

* * *

><p>In his journeys, both on and off-world, Wheeljack had come into contact with a number of characters, many of them possible allies. Although most had been too preoccupied with battles light-years away or weren't about to listen to the ravings of a 'bot whose unit had been the only one mad enough to stay on Cybertron and get killed for it. Wreckers were always better to be avoided—you'd live longer.<p>

But once a Prime was the one hailing the Autobots scattered across the cosmos, they came without question, like moths to a flame.

Optimus himself was certainly not as worse for wear as he'd been a month prior. With a replacement servo in place of the one he'd lost, he'd regained nearly all motor function in the patchwork limb. Wheeljack promised when (_not if_) they got to Ratchet, he'd construct a more battle efficient one that was easier on the optics. As it was, Optimus was thankful nonetheless, though a new servo was not the only permanent casualty of war. One of his optical nerves had been blasted to such a degree that the Prime was completely blind out of it. Even with a replaced lens and rerouted cables, Wheeljack doubted that even _Ratchet_ could fully repair it. It had taken Optimus an entire week to relearn how to walk, fight, and survive with only one functioning optic.

Wheeljack had not escaped unscathed either. Beside the shrapnel in his side and shoulders that had been fully removed, his right knee joint would be weak and sore for an indefinite period of time, and the left side of his faceplate was heavily scarred, a leftover of the damage he'd endured during his crash.

Both, even when their injuries healed, had not gone after a single Decepticon. Wheeljack was able to hack into their comm. frequencies unnoticed from time to time, to learn when Megatron would launch his inevitable master plan, and as far as the Lord of the Decepticons knew, Optimus and his team had been obliterated. That idea had only been cemented when neither Autobot could find Optimus' missing limb, most likely taken as a trophy. Wheeljack had been all for a counterattack, after all he _had_ succeeded in surprising Megatron a few times with his assaults on the energon mines, but he obeyed Prime's orders. They could not stage a defense without reinforcements, ones which did indeed come.

The first to join 'Team Prime 2.0' had been on the planet for quite some time, though according to Autobot records had never taken part in the War. A Neutral, or so he said, named Drift who had lived among humans in Japan for centuries. He had been staying with the descendants of the family he first met upon his arrival in Tara, Saga three hundred years ago.

The met Drift on the peak of Mount_ Kyōga_ under the cover of night, their ship cloaked from detection by any human technologies. Optimus himself lumbered down the gangplank to greet their newest recruit and was surprised by that he found.

The 'bot before Optimus certainly matched the clipped and polite voice print they had heard on the ship's communication frequency, younger than Wheeljack but older than Bumblebee, standing erect before him in white armor that had hints of orange decals, with a faceplate of a somber silver and standard blue optics. Across his brow was a chevron the same shade of white as his helm. Though he carried three swords, two in his hip scabbards, shorter and blunter than Wheeljack's own blades, and one massive sword strapped to his back that Optimus found rather familiar, Optimus saw no blasters or room for them on him.

Drift bowed before the battle-scarred Prime before rising to meet his optics, one bright blue and the other a diminished gray, determination set in the corners of the ninja-bot's mouthplate.

"I am honored to be considered recruitment material, Optimus Prime, sir."

Wheeljack snorted from where he leaned against the gangway railing.

"Like we had a choice."

Drift spared the Wrecker a cool look before turning back to the Prime. "And, again, my sincerest apologies for not answering to your initial call." He lowered his helm in submission. "But as I was never an Autobot, and everyone scattered, I figured there would be no more use for me."

"Well we have use for ya now, so come on—"Wheeljack began impatiently, only to snap his mouthplate shut as Optimus raised his patchwork servo to stifle him.

"We appreciate your company all the same, Drift," Optimus said sincerely, and the white 'bot inclined his helm again, "Now more than ever. I personally thank you for deciding to join us in a battle that is not your own."

"I fear it has become everyone's battle," Drift said solemnly, and he accepted the Prime's outstretched servo.

* * *

><p>After Drift, the Autobots that followed came much quicker.<p>

Their ship, while functioning flawlessly in nearly every way, was unable to break through Earth's upper atmosphere due to damage to her navigation grid when they landed. Wheeljack joked that all the Autobots' tech wanted to keep them planet-side.

The new Autobots were required to hide their vessels, whether that be in the densest of jungles or cloaked on some mountaintop, before meeting with the Prime, and the next Cybertronians landed together, though not by choice, and they could be heard bickering even as the gangplank lowered. Wheeljack and Drift were the first to disembark, the latter as silent as a wraith, both standing as sentinels before the ship entrance, and the gathered party paid them no heed.

There were three Autobots before them, already sporting Earth kibble, one of them a massive blood-red mech taller and slimmer than Bulkhead, with cannons that were nearly half his length attached to each forearm, clicking and whirring in agitation. He was heavily battered as well, with so much chipped paint, gashes, and nicks that it was evident how little he cared for his looks.

The two younger mechs he was lecturing were much shorter, about Drift's height, and clearly twins. One had crimson armor and a black helm, and appeared to be the instigator of their squabbling. His twin looked alike in nearly every way, gangly and brawny, though his bright yellow armor had clearly seen a great deal of polishing. He had his servos crossed over his chassis as his other half ribbed at him and the huge mech behind them ordered for them to clam up in a thick southern drawl.

Once the echoes of the Prime's steps could be heard as he descended the gangplank all voices stilled. The twins appeared as cowed as their respective prides would allow as they stood at attention before their commander, while the blood-red Autobot grinned.

"Prime!" he bellowed as soon as Optimus had stepped off the ship, and he moved forward to intercept the red and blue mech. "If you aren't a sight fer sore optics! I hardly recognized ya without yer mask!"

Wheeljack was only mildly surprised to see Optimus' mouthplate lift in a genuine smile. "It is a pleasure to see you as well, old friend," he said fondly, clasping the red 'bot's servo. "Although, I am surprised to see you in this sector of the galaxy, Ironhide."

The 'bot, Ironhide, made a sound akin to a human snort. "Ya mean that yer surprised to see me still _online_." He rolled his shoulders and jerked his helm in the direction of the twins, the red one having been elbowing his brother in the side and stopping once the focus had been turned on them. "Ran into these walkin' scrapheaps on my way to Alpha Centauri. Told me 'bout your call an' here I am."

Optimus rested a servo on Ironhide's shoulder, and if he noticed the veteran's flinch did not comment on it. "And for that we are thankful, old friend." He looked up to include the twins in his fathomless gaze. "And I promise that all will be explained." His servo fell from Ironhide's shoulder and the mech's enormous cannons clicked as they shifted in place.

"For now," Optimus continued, "you may state your designations."

The yellow twin stepped forward, snapping into a smart salute. "Sunstreaker, sir. I was part of Project Generation One, in the Gamma unit, during the War."

"You guarded the _Ark_," Optimus realized. Sunstreaker nodded wordlessly and the Prime turned to his twin.

"Name's Sideswipe, _mon capitaine_," the red mech stated with a grin and looser salute than his twin. "Member of Project Generation One, and pilot of the _Ark._"Sideswipe's grin slipped into something more wane. "But I'm sure you already knew that."

Optimus nodded all the same. "Indeed, Sideswipe. I am grateful for both you and your twin's safe arrival."

Sideswipe bobbed his helm vigorously, his grin returning in full force. "Slag yeah! And I can't wait to see the rest of your team—bring crammed in a tin can with Sunny over here was not a pleasant experience, let me tell you." Disregarding Sunstreaker's affronted cry, he pressed on. "Cliffjumper told me a while back that he was meeting up with you guys, and Jazz said he was on his way too."

By the ship, Wheeljack winced and Drift sent him a sidelong glance in mild confusion. Optimus seemed unfazed, and it was his cool exterior that alerted Ironhide and Wheeljack, letting them know that he had tucked his guilt (and any other revealing emotion) away.

Optimus still managed something that was passable for a smile, while Ironhide watched him with an expression that demanded explanation, from the state of the two absent Autobots to his useless optic and replaced servo, a look that Optimus consented too without a word.

"I believe it may be time for us to depart," was all he said, however, motioning to their ship with his genuine servo. "If you two wish to be the first aboard….?"

Sideswipe whooped as he dashed forward, calling "shotgun!" behind him.

Sunstreaker followed his twin at a saner pace, and muttered "Idiot" under his breath.

* * *

><p>The final additions to their team came completely by surprise.<p>

It had been nigh a week since Ironhide and the twins had joined them, and it was clear that the Decepticons were growing in power.

Thanks to Wheeljack's careful ministrations their ship was nearly undetectable, by both Decepticon and human scanners, and the peace they were provided was filled with training exercises and battle tactics. All of them were gunning for the 'Cons, but Optimus held then back with a steady, false servo and grim countenance. They were not yet ready.

The Decepticons were, however.

The transmission had been received by accident—they had parked the ship in the Rockies, and the snow was so thick and the blizzard so fierce that no human would be foolhardy enough to come near. Wheeljack had ducked under the control console, repaired a few loose wires to the communication grids, when the transmission began to play, one that Wheeljack would later say had been broadcasted across the planet.

Megatron was on the screen.

"Greetings, inhabitants of Earth," the shark-faced Cybertronian leered, and the bridge began to fill with the other Autobots, staring at the projection in equal horror and forbidding understanding. "I am Megatron, Lord of the Decepticons, and the Destroyer of worlds. As of now, your planet is not your own. I am in possession of a warship, an armada—you retain no way to defend yourselves. Your governments have known of our existence and done nothing—they can do nothing now.

"Make what you can of the days you have left, humankind. Your lord and master's rage will be swift, and only the strongest of your race will survive."

The transmission faded to static, and only the howling of the wind beyond the hull could be heard. Optimus was the first to break the stifling silence.

"Megatron will not take long to act," Optimus Prime said, exhaustion and guilt and a quiet rage displayed in every corner of his frame. "We must be prepared for the coming battle."

A ship crash landed nearby the next day.

* * *

><p>Optimus set out into the snow with Ironhide and Wheeljack. The storm had calmed, though the blizzard was still very much raging.<p>

On their way toward the plume of smoke beyond the next peak, Wheeljack took point as he was smaller and lighter on his pedes, while the two senior Autobots debated the trustworthiness of their ex-Neutral.

"'s somethin' about the look in 'is optics, Prime," Ironhide opined as their massive stabilizing servos sank in the snow. "Somethin' not-quite familiar, but definitely sneaky. You sure we can trust the ninja-bot?"

Optimus nodded in reassurance. "I believe in Drift's worth as a solider and an Autobot. He has not displayed any traits suggesting otherwise, and was gone for a majority of the War for Cybertron, as you are aware, old friend."

Ironhide harrumphed, his cannons twitching. "I'm still keepin' an optic on 'im."

"I understand," Optimus said with one of those barest of smiles. Up ahead, Wheeljack let out a cry as he was thrown bodily back into the snow.

Ironhide had his cannons charged in less than a klik, and Optimus too shifted into a combat position with his one blaster deployed.

As Wheeljack scrambled to his pedes, a disembodied crimson visor appeared amid the sleet. The snow-covered ground trembled beneath the Cybertronian's mighty pedefalls, and a deep tenor was heard, silencing the wind with a plaintive roar:

"Who dares attack _me_, Grimlock?!"

With that crude and familiar statement, the Autobots dropped their battle-ready positions. Ironhide groaned, muttering an expletive, Wheeljack blinked, and even Optimus appeared to go slightly slack jawed.

It nearly took him a breem, but Optimus found his vocals. "Grimlock, you are not under attack. It is I, Optimus Prime, with Ironhide and Wheeljack."

The crimson visor was joined by another, and then a cerulean visor and a pair of burning red optics, the frames of these behemoths only shadows against the blizzard. The biggest of them growled, only his and Optimus' voices able to completely trump the wind.

"Optimus _Prime_?! Of course _you'd_ still be alive."

Despite Grimlock's sour tone, he was forming complete sentences with little difficulty—a good sign. Optimus' optical ridges furrowed, however.

"Did you not receive my summons to this planet?"

The ground quaked again, and all four pairs of optics moved closer. "I ignored _your_ slagging summons," Grimlock announced. "We came to this rock 'cause of all the 'Cons."

With that, the Dinobots stepped fully into that Autobots' line of vision, just as massive and intimidating as they'd last seen them. Grimlock glowered down at Optimus Prime.

"Why would _you_ want us here?"

Swoop took a step forward, a servo on his friend's arm. "I think they want our help, Grim," the transforming pterosaur advised with a grin.

Grimlock whirled his helm back to face Optimus, something like self-satisfaction in his otherwise blank expression. "So the mighty Optimus Prime needs _our_ help," he said smugly, leaning forward so that he loomed over the Prime. "And why should we help you, Prime? I can take my Dinobots and kick Megatron's sorry can ourselves." He was keeping his temper in check, for now, and his pride was certainly aiding in the attempt for the time being.

Optimus, not one to be easily threatened, only splayed his servos, palms up, in a peaceful gesture. "We are all of us outnumbered on this planet, Grimlock. If what you said is true, and more Decepticons are arriving, we cannot leave humankind to fend for themselves."

At this, Grimlock snorted, stepping back. "You want us to protect the organics? I knew you were weak, Prime, but—"

"Hey, scrap for brains, these 'organics' have more worth than you ever will."

All heads turned to the Autobot who had spoken and found Wheeljack standing tall against their stares. Grimlock growled and took a menacing step toward the Wrecker, his teammates rushing to stop him.

"Peace, Grimlock," Optimus rumbled, stepping pointedly between the struggling Dinobot and the Wrecker. "Wheeljack meant you no insult." Wheeljack opened his mouth to disagree, but a sharp look from the Prime silenced him.

Grimlock sent Wheeljack one final scathing glare before nodding stiffly, and the Dinobots released him. They all knew that he easily could have broken their hold and the fact that he hadn't meant he was still able to control his rage.

"Now, Grimlock, I understand your frustration," Optimus assured, servos outstretched. "I empathize with you, even. You may not have known, but we have accepted Earth as our new home."

It was evidently the wrong thing for Optimus to say as a roar tore through the gears of Grimlock's throat and he stomped forward, the ground jolting from under them. "_Cybertron_ is home!" he thundered, and his tone grew coarse and harsh and dark, brooking no argument. Optimus tried anyway.

"Cybertron is _gone_, Grimlock," the Prime argued gently, his rolling velvet timber becoming anguished, "We can never return to it. I made sure of it."

Everybot started, even Wheeljack, who hadn't heard of the news until now. The Dinobots exchanged uncertain glances as well, until Snarl spoke up from behind their leader.

"What do you mean, Bossbot?" the youngest of the Dinobots queried slowly.

Optimus Prime lowered his head but his one functioning optic flickered from Autobot to Autobot, capturing each of their gazes as he told what happened to the Omega Lock, the almighty secret he had kept from all them. At the end of his tale Wheeljack was enraged, Ironhide looked like he wanted to pummel something, preferably Megatron's bucket of a head, and the Dinobots sported various expressions ranging from shock to fury. Grimlock, surprisingly, was impassive.

"Why should your failure mean anything to me?" Grimlock finally ground out, folding his massive arms over his chassis.

"It shouldn't," Optimus responded honestly. "It is my blame to bear, Grimlock, but believe me when I say this—you will not find what you're looking for by exacting revenge."

Grimlock stiffened. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do. We all do, Grimlock, as you are more than aware." A sigh made its way through Optimus' intakes. "We know what Shockwave has done to you—"

"_No_," Grimlock interrupted, jabbing a digit into Optimus' chest, directly over his spark chamber. "No you don't, Prime. You don't know what true torture is like." His rage practically rolled off of him in waves, undeterred by the snow that swirled around them, but Grimlock kept himself in check, and he lowered his arm. "And why would joining your slagging 'team' be useful to any one of the Dinobots?"

"I believe it to be time for us to set aside our differences, Grimlock," Optimus said simply, though not unkindly, and he made no move to comfort the leader of the Dinobots. "Long have we been at odds, and, as of now, that _must_ come to an end. We are on a new planet, battling an old enemy who outnumbers us yet again." He stepped forward, firm and unwavering despite having doomed their planet for the umpteenth time, exactly as Grimlock remembered him from eons ago, only more worn and perhaps the wiser for it.

"You said before that you did not see the purpose in protecting the life forms upon this planet," he said, more of a statement than a question, and Grimlock lifted his chin in challenge. Optimus was not goaded, and continued as if he hadn't noticed. "Join us, Grimlock, if only long enough to meet some of these humans you so revile. If your opinion of them does not change then, you and your teammates are free to go."

Grimlock leaned back, folding his arms again. "And if we refuse?"

"We will not stop you," Optimus answered. "But I feel you would come to regret that decision."

The leader of the Dinobots appeared impassive for several moments, though by the glances his teammates shared it was clear that they had opened a private comm. channel.

'_I think we should do it.'_

'_You sure, Swoop?'_

'_We've been let down by Optimus before.'_

'_He's weak.'_

'_That's what you always say, but—'_

'_But _what_, Snarl?'_

'_Calm down, Grim. Snarl has a point. We can't take on all of the Cons; you saw how many were on their way.'_

'_We've done it before.'_

'_We were almost _killed_ before. Listen to Swoop, Grimlock—we want our comeuppance too, but we won't get that on our own.'_

'_Shockwave will still be there after we meet these organics.'_

'_That's what I'm afraid of.'_

A few breems passed before they all turned to face Optimus and the two stoic bots behind him. Grimlock drew himself up, but this time made no move to intimidate Optimus.

"Fine. We'll join you, Prime."

Optimus' stiff joints softened in relief. "I am glad, Grimlock. This will be worth your time, I—"

Grimlock silenced the Optimus with a servo. "I said we're coming, but at the first sign of Shockwave, you don't try to hold us back. The Pit-spawned fragger deserves what's coming to him." His crimson visor gleamed, holding Optimus' gaze, and from behind the Prime Ironhide's cannons shifted and Wheeljack hopped from pede to pede.

At last, Optimus nodded. "Very well, Grimlock." He made to move to shake the Dinobot's servo, knowing the attempt would be one in vain.

* * *

><p>With the Dinobots among them, tensions had been riding high. The ship was too small for a group their size and one could only avoid the object of their irritation for so long. Without any clue as to where Optimus Prime's team could have fled to they were lost and spent a majority of their time grounded or on patrol, not about to waste precious energon in a fool's quest. And it was the Dinobots who were forced to stay on the ship at all times as they had no Earth guise to transform into. Remarkably, they were all able to control themselves rather well, Grimlock included. He stayed back, usually behind the sturdy barrier of his teammates, and away from anything or anybot who might stoke his inescapable fury.<p>

Unfortunately, there was one bot who succeeded in raising everyone's ire. Drift.

The ninja bot had done nothing that would warrant distrust, which was why the Autobots were so on edge. Always silent, always invisible, and always infallible in his ability to see and hear _everything_ had garnered him the title "Soundwave of the Autobots", along with all the wariness that came from such an allusion. No one treated Drift any differently, but they were sure not to turn their backs on him either.

The forced calm on their ship was sure not to last forever, and not surprisingly it was Wheeljack who brought about its end.

Grimlock had been plodding along a hallway on his way to the quarters he and his teammates shared, little more than a storage room due to their massive size though no one dared mention it. Wheeljack had been coming in the opposite direction, and due to his bulk Grimlock could not maneuver his way through the halls as well as he might have wanted to, and as a result one of his swinging arms caught Wheeljack in the shoulder and jerked him into the wall. Grimlock didn't pause in his stride nor did he offer any apology.

Had they been on a cramped ship for a shorter time, with less Autobots, Wheeljack was certain that he would've brushed the incident off. But he was at the end of his rope after another failed attempt to contact the other Autobots, and they _had_ been on a cramped ship for a _very_ long time, with more Autobots than it was built to hold, and was unable to contain his outburst, even when he knew it to be suicidal to reprimand _Grimlock_ of all bots. "Hey!" he snarled. "Watch where you're goin, half-clock!"

The Dinobot's hulking countenance stilled, and it was with deliberate slowness that Grimlock turned his bloodied gaze on the much smaller Wrecker.

Sanity wasn't always a given when you joined the Wreckers, Wheeljack noted as Grimlock's servos moved to retrieve the sword from his back.

Meanwhile, on the bridge Slug was running routine maintenance on the ship's main consoles, Drift hovering at his elbow observing and handing tools to the technician from the nearby supply box. They worked silently, in no rush, and Slug's massive servos that so easily crushed Decepticon skulls skimmed and danced around the circuits and wires and everything else that made up the navigational grid that Drift had no name for with a certain grace.

The sound of nearby blaster fire stilled Slug's servos and both of them exchanged a glance as Grimlock's roar bounced off the walls. Drift straightened, thankful that Ironhide had taken the twins out for target practice as the sounds of fighting drew nearer.

It wasn't a breem later when Wheeljack flipped through the entrance, pedes gaining purchase on the floor with a shriek of metal against metal. He had a sword in one servo and the other reformatted into a blaster, and he was cackling like a madman. The effort it took him to move so fluidly had him favoring his right leg, and the knee itself was trembling. Drift was quick to notice this weakness, and as another savage roar reached them he swiftly approached the Wrecker.

"Wheeljack, whatever it is you and Grimlock are doing, you must stop," Drift ordered gently, servos lifted in an attempt at mollification.

"Yeah," Slug agreed from behind the ninja-bot, still stooping over the control console, "some of us are trying to run maintenance over here."

"Apologies," Wheeljack said with a grin that told the exact opposite, and he tightened his hold on his sword. "But I don't think I could call off Big Ugly if I wanted to."

"_SLAGARD!"_ Grimlock boomed from just beyond the entrance, and Wheeljack's grin widened.

"I think that's for me," the Wrecker guessed jauntily, his mirth not faltering, and he spun his sword in one servo. The crash of Grimlock's pedes came to a head as the hulking Dinobot stormed through the entrance, burning crimson from beneath his armor with vapor rising from his chassis that had not come from the shallow blaster wound on his shoulder.

His blazing sword extended, Grimlock leveled his blood-red glare on Wheeljack.

"Hey, Big Guy, I didn't think you'd make it," Wheeljack wheedled cheerily, "what with that thick head you're hauling around."

"Making me angry—not best idea," Grimlock grinded out as he heaved massive exvents from his intake manifolds, clamping both servos around the hilt of his blade. Slug finally rose from the console and carefully made his way over to his leader, his calm words beginning to pacify Grimlock.

Wheeljack had to continue goading the Dinobot, however, as he nodded exaggeratedly in false agreement. "Oh of course. Wouldn't want the science experiment to short circuit now would we?"

All movement on the bridge ceased and Slug swore. Grimlock looked back up at Wheeljack with a glare so hateful it would have made a weaker bot spontaneously combust or drop into stasis lock.

"What did you say?" Grimlock, frighteningly calm, began to draw himself up to his full, terrifying height, and the blaze beneath his panels increased tenfold. Slug struggled to hold him back. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Wheeljack grinned, undeterred. "Sorry. Shouldn't have expected a pet of Shockwave's to understand. Should I talk slower?"

Grimlock broke Slug's hold in an instant and stormed toward the absurdly smug Wrecker with a ferocious roar, only for a blur of white to get in the way of his target.

"Control yourself, Grimlock!" Drift pleaded his servos tiny against the Dinobot's chest plate. "Violence only leads to more violence, and the ship would not be able to withstand an all-out brawl!"

Grimlock stopped and his glower landed on the ninja-bot before him. "You're not even a real Autobot," he accused sharply, not seeing Slug run out into the hall. His rumbling tenor rose in volume. "You can't give me orders, _traitor_!"

With a snarl, he swung his arm and backhanded Drift into the communication console just as Slug returned, Optimus and the other Dinobots on his heels.

"Grimlock, cease this aggression immediately!" Optimus thundered amid the chaos, and Grimlock's teammates hurried to restrain him.

Wheeljack's circuits were still sizzling and as he returned his sword to its sheath he grinned wickedly. "Do you always take Prime's orders, experiment?"

Grimlock roared and Optimus trained his one working optic on the Wrecker. "Wheeljack, stand down," he commanded icily, optic blazing, and Wheeljack finally had the sense to obey.

Turning away from the Prime and the growing effort to compose Grimlock, Wheeljack transformed his blaster back into a servo and extended it toward the ninja-bot still lying against the now dented communications console.

"Ah…sorry about this," he began awkwardly, suddenly looking so much smaller than the bot that had just insulted one of the strongest Autobots in existence, with a buckling right knee and haggard look in his optics that showed just what had been hiding beneath the mask of bravado.

Drift accepted the assistance with a grimace and servo to the back of his head. "The only thing hurt was my pride," he responded, rubbing the sore spot at the center of his helm. Wheeljack managed a smirk at that, (though he still saw the hate in Grimlock's optics as he denounced Drift as, what, a _traitor?) _and he opened his mouthplate to respond when a very different voice reached them all.

"_Bald eagle to Omega 10-22_," the voice warbled from the comm. line in the dented communications console. All movement stilled, and Optimus, in the midst of reprimanding Grimlock, craned his head back in bewilderment, an action that was mimicked by the Dinobots.

"_Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong_. _It's time to go to our home away from home."_

Wheeljack blinked, arms hanging loosely at his sides, and Drift appeared equally confused. "_Tiny_?" Wheeljack hissed incredulously as the transmission replayed. He turned on an equally stunned Optimus. "Prime, is that Tiny?"

"What's the fleshy babbling about?" Ironhide grunted, having arrived tardy to the spectacle, shoving himself past Grimlock who seemed determined on becoming a barricade for those coming on and off the bridge.

Optimus stepped forward, the lectures for his two rabble rousing soldiers momentarily forgotten, both optics remaining wide as relief began to shine even in the dimmed gray lens. "It is a code," he intoned, digits skimming over the keys of the main console. "One that Agent Fowler created long before the base was lost."

"How in Primus is the Universal Greeting a fragging _code_?" Wheeljack demanded, but a reproachful look from Optimus silenced him, in remainder that he was still on thin ice.

"In this instance, Agent Fowler decided on a phrase that would be unsuspected, informing us of when it would be safe to meet. It must have been broadcasting on a loop, though only upon this certain channel."

"Meet where, sir?" Drift asked. Quiet as usual, he received various looks ranging from mild distrust to full loathing (courtesy of Grimlock). Optimus Prime did not turn as he answered, but his shoulders lifted in the epitome of relief.

"Griffin Rock, Maine."

* * *

><p>"I'm not happy about parking the ship underwater," Wheeljack groused as he instated lock down The Autobots around him had gathered whatever supplies they would need, and where now bustling by the entrance.<p>

"There was nowhere else, Wheeljack," Optimus Prime reminded him, his velvet timber easily reaching the Wrecker through the din. "I cannot imagine how the inhabitants would react to us landing our ship on the island."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Optimus turned to face his team. "You must all remember these humans already know of our existence, so maximum precautions need be taken. Stay in your vehicles modes for as long as possible, do not draw attention to yourselves, and Dinobots, you must travel through the woods as they are thick enough to hide you all without alerting anyone to your presence."

The Autobots all nodded, Grimlock a bit stiffly, and the Prime looked to the Wrecker at the console. "Wheeljack, you may unlock the doors."

They all crowded into the airtight room, Wheeljack sprinting after them, and once the doors had closed behind him he entered the code to open the spillway, instantly filling the room with seawater. As the bots all transformed and rushed out into the deep, headlights blazing, Grimlock requested communication over a private comm. line with Optimus.

Optimus accepted, and Grimlock's rough tenor reached him. _'You had better hope that these humans are worth it, Prime.'_

'_They will be,' _Optimus responded confidently, and above the surface the lights of the island town grew increasingly nearer.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Just a oneshot set after 'Scattered' of TFPrime, with minor spoilers for next episode 'Prey'.

And to all those interested, the Rescue Bots/Prime story based off of the last two chapters has been posted, along with a new chapter! 'A New Divide' can be found on my profile page.

Transformers Prime/Rescue Bots belongs to Hasbro

* * *

><p>"Wheeljack, what did the Cons do to you?"<p>

The Wrecker faltered in the midst of explaining his demolition plan to Bulkhead, and both of them looked down at the little human girl on the rock between them. Bulkhead looked like he wanted to disappear through the outcrop they were crouched on, and even Wheeljack's answer was uncharacteristically strained. "W-what do you mean, kid?"

Miko shrugged vaguely, looking down at her hands. "I mean, they captured you, right?" At Wheeljack's uncertain nod, she went on. "Well...what happened?"

Wheeljack and Bulkhead exchanged a look; the latter's features distinctly helpless at the question his charge was posing. Looking a little lost himself, Wheeljack turned back to the slim Asian girl and offered her a scarred black servo. Miko climbed up willingly, and Wheeljack lifted her so that she was about level with his chest plate.

"Why do you want to know about that scrap?" he asked once their gazes were more or less equal, and Miko looked at him with her bottomless brown eyes.

She lifted her hand, so very small and fragile, and gently ran her fingers along the edge of the gouge in the metal of his chest plate. "Because of this," she intoned softly, leaving her hand on the raw wound that still stung but wasn't deep enough to draw energon. Miko looked back up at Wheeljack. "You managed to escape, _barely_, I'm guessing, and I want to know how. So…so that I'll know if you can get away safely next time."

Wheeljack blinked, glanced to an equally stunned Bulkhead, before training his gaze back on the child who had become as solemn as the time they had thought their best friend dead.

He mustered a smirk he hoped looked authentic and chuckled as if it was nothing and he narrowly avoided being smelted every other day. "Cool your jets, kiddo. I've gotten into worse scrapes, and I didn't have Bulkhead to pull my backside out of the fire then either."

Miko relaxed somewhat, though the furrow in her brow showed she was still unconvinced. "But what about—"

"_Miko_," Wheeljack interrupted, and at the rare use of her name the girl clicked her mouth shut. "I'm fine. Scream was entrusted to tor—interrogate me, and you know how much of a workout _he_ gives me during our 'little chats'." At Miko's tired smile, the Wrecker continued in a firmer tone. "You should get some rest. We've got a big day ahead of us." At this, Wheeljack gestured toward the Decepticon mine below them, Vehicons swarming around it like ants.

The girl sighed, nodding grudgingly. Wheeljack smiled genuinely as he passed the yawning girl to her guardian, and Bulkhead enfolded her within his servos, providing both a warm and soundproof resting place. A few minutes passed before Miko's soft breathing was heard and Bulkhead turned to glare at the distracted Wrecker.

"So, is there any reason you didn't tell Miko what your stint with the Cons was _really_ like?"

Wheeljack's frame tensed, but he didn't look away from the mine below as he responded through gritted denta. "For the last time, it was _nothing_. Every time I get caught you act like this."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't get caught so often."

The Wrecker growled, stubbornly folding his arms over his chassis. He heard Bulkhead exvent heavily behind him. "Jackie, I know it wasn't 'nothing', not with you acting like this. What was so bad about Starscream's interrogation that you had to lie to Miko?"

Wheeljack scrubbed a servo down his faceplate in a show of weariness that startled Bulkhead. "Because it wasn't _Starscream_ who interrogated me. At least not the second time."

Bulkhead's optical ridges furrowed in perplexity, and he only inclined his helm as signal for the ex-Wrecker to continue, as almost all range of motion had become limited on account of the girl he held in his servos. "Then who did?" he demanded uncertainly, not wanting to know the answer.

Wheeljack remained very still, his optics unseeing, before taking a ragged breath through his intakes.

"Shockwave," he whispered, as if the name were cursed.

Bulkhead was silent for only a moment before roaring, "_Shockwave?!" _fear and horror in his voice. He quickly checked on Miko and allowed for a modicum of relief to show on his faceplate when he hadn't woken her. He focused his attention on the white bot in the next instant. "But I thought he was offline!"

"Apparently not, Bulk," Wheeljack retorted, his wry humor conspicuously absent. The ex-Wrecker looked about ready to explode, but as Miko turned in her sleep he forced himself to calm down.

"Jackie…what did he do?"

Wheeljack snorted, the stoic spell broken, and he reclined against the rocky wall. "Well I'm still here, aren't I?" At his friend's stern look he relented, uncrossing his arms. "He…he used a cortical psychic patch. He was trying to find info on Team Prime's location."

Bulkhead regarded Wheeljack with wide optics, stunned into silence. He had heard of both Bumblebee and Smokescreen's experience with the experimental technology, and the notion that his closest friend had been subject to such an invasion of privacy was appalling.

"Jackie…" he tried to say, but the Wrecker shrugged him off.

"Don't you worry, they didn't get anything. For once, keeping me out of the loop was actually a benefit." Wheeljack glanced away when he noticed the mass of Vehicons below was thinning. "Well, I'm off to do my thing before the Cons come back from their lunch break."

With that, Wheeljack somersaulted off of the outcropping before Bulkhead could even think of stopping him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Home**

_Set after the Season 3 finale of TFP and the Season 1 ending of RB._

_Don't forget, I'm still accepting story suggestions! I'd be glad to hear ideas anyone has to offer. _

_Transformers and its characters belong to Hasbro_

* * *

><p>It was with a simple call that their world fell apart, only to be rebuilt anew.<p>

A slow day preceded disaster. Heatwave ferried Kade around town for most of the day, stopping to show off to his girlfriend on more than one occasion. Thankfully, Haley had since wised up to his antics and told his partner to get back to work.

Chase and the Chief's patrol was dubbed an "eventful afternoon" by the former, though Heatwave wasn't about to take his word on it. Chase thought _speed trap detail_ was "eventful".

Boulder hadn't done much of note either. He helped Graham with some homework before the pair was called to run routine maintenance on the hydraulic controls for the dam before being summoned to the Lab by Doc Greene for their input on some asinine invention of his.

Blades dropped Cody and Frankie off at school before buzzing around the island with Dani for one of her many impromptu practice flights. She was of the notion that Blades needed to conquer his fear of heights, and the only way to do that was to test his limits at random intervals. They certainly helped improve the helicopter-bot's lack of confidence with himself, and he could nearly pilot himself completely without aid.

The day winded down as each Rescue Bot returned home. Cody was picked up by Chase on his and Chief's way back to the firehouse, and the boy instantly started on his homework upstairs with the promise to hang out once he was done.

The 'Bots milled around the bunker then, exchanging words only every so often. They had come to know each other so well that the silence was a comfortable one.

Heatwave practiced the combat skills he'd gleaned from his days at the Cybertron Academy on the multi-pegged training dummy, while Blades flipped through channels from the human-sized couch that his upper frame rested on. He eventually started watching a show Dani had become attached to about a group of humans attending high school and the various problems they involved themselves in. She'd grown fond of it, declaring that it reminded her of a simpler time. Chase had somehow been cajoled into viewing it with Blades, though all he did was point out and complain about the various rules/laws/regulations they violated.

Boulder was stationed in their own Autobot-sized command center, logging mission reports. Since arriving on Earth they decided to take turns completing the arduous and just plain boring task, even though Chase _did_ volunteer to do it all of the times. It was thus that Boulder was the first to be aware of what was to come.

"Heatwave." The construction-bot's soft baritone reached him even from the raised platform and he stopped mid punch. It wasn't the summons that gave him pause but the tone used. Levelheaded Boulder sounded concerned. And then came the catalyst of their due damnation and salvation.

"It's Optimus. He's asking for all of us."

Unease soon snowballing into worry and alarm, Heatwave and his teammates followed Boulder into their command center. As promised, Optimus Prime was on the main monitor, only it wasn't the Optimus Prime they knew, for while his faceplate remained unchanged the rest of his frame wasn't. And then he explained his reason for calling.

"_Cybertron_?" Heatwave vented, hardly daring to believe it. He _couldn't_ believe it. "I don't understand…"

"But _how_, sir?" Chase asked of the Prime. It was the first time Heatwave had ever heard the police-bot sound so hopelessly lost, not even when Cody tried explaining the plot of the Three Stooges.

Optimus Prime answered dutifully, despite having already explained, something new coloring his vocals that Heatwave never heard before. "By taking possession of the reformatted Omega Lock on the Decepticons' warship we revived our planet's core."

"W-we realize that, but we can't…quite comprehend it. Sir." Boulder was the one to explain the behavior of their resident police-bot, who was usually rather quick on the uptake. Blades had yet to say a word. A small, infinitesimal part of Heatwave's processor that wasn't screaming "_Primus in the Pit, we have our planet back_" wondered if Blades' logic circuits had fried in his shock.

"I understand, Boulder," Optimus responded, a sympathetic look crossing his faceplates. "It is indeed much news for you all to take it. My team and I have only just returned to our base on Earth, and will be returning to Cybertron shortly to begin rebuilding. Primus may be alive in our planet once more, but everything still remains in ruins. And of course, you four may join us whenever you'd like. It is your planet as well, you know."

It suddenly struck Heatwave that he recognized the new inflection in their Prime's voice print. It was faint, but it was so clearly present that the fire response-bot nearly reeled from further surprise. It was happiness. Pure, unbridled happiness in Optimus Prime's normally grave voice as he explained to them of their planet's revival. And then their leader's last sentences arose in his processors so swiftly that they might as well have slapped him in the face.

"Wait, _leave_ Earth?" Heatwave was suddenly demanding, to the Pit with rank and insubordination. His teammates caught on in various stages of disbelief and horror.

"What about Cody and Graham?" Boulder questioned softly. "What about the others?"

"We couldn't just _leave_ them," Blades murmured, speaking for the first time since Optimus told them the news. He looked at Heatwave, his expression as lost as Chase's had been. "Could we?"

Heatwave's optics flickered from teammate to teammate; Blades's disbelieving optics and terrified expression, Boulder's concerned and conflicted faceplates, and finally Chase's blank facial components before the leader of the Rescue Bots had his attention diverted by the leader of the Autobots.

"I know that this must be a difficult choice for all of you. Heatwave, you and your team may come to your decision whenever you are ready. I have allies remaining in our base on Earth who would gladly transport you to Cybertron via Space Bridge is you do so desire."

Heatwave nodded numbly, his processor at war with itself. "Thank you, Optimus."

Their Prime inclined his helm slightly. "Until we meet again, Rescue Bots." The screen went dark as the connection terminated.

Despite Optimus' imposing presence having gone, the four Autobots remained silent, each processing the news for themselves for many moments. Heatwave didn't know about his teammates, but his own processor ran in circles and was hardly capable of coherent thought, much less decision-making.

The pressure seemed too great for Blades, who collapsed into the chair set before the massive computer console with a whimper. He ducked his head as he hopelessly mumbled, "What are we going to do?"

Heatwave found he had no answer. Boulder appeared to have closed his optics and refused to believe that what happened around him was anything but a dream. They would have their fair share of surprises today, Heatwave realized when Chase spoke.

"I believe we should take Optimus Prime's offer."

It was both the first and last thing Heatwave had expected out of the police-bot. He still didn't have a response ready for his team, but Blades and Boulder more than provided. The former raised his head so fast that Heatwave feared it would snap off his neck piece. A startling amount of outrage glowed fiercely in his orange optics.

"We can't just _abandon_ _them_, Chase!"

Boulder looked like he'd snapped out of his stupor as well, but both he and Heatwave remained silent as Blades stood up to the austere police-bot.

Ever collected, Chase's response was calm. "I wouldn't go so far as to call it abandonment, Blades. Don't you want to see Cybertron again?"

"But we'll be leaving the team behind," Boulder said, softer than Blades' rapid-fire accusation, and he nearly wrung his servos in his uncertainty.

"It's not like they expected us to stay forever," Heatwave interrupted more sharply than he intended. At Blades' and Boulder's wounded expressions, he vented wearily. "I don't have anything against the humans. But I agree with Chase—this is _home_ we're talking about."

"What about our home _here_?" Boulder pointed out.

Once again an indecisive silence settled over the Autobots. On the one hand, as Heatwave believed the saying went, they would be helping rebuild their home. The war-ravaged planet they hadn't laid optics on in centuries. On the other, they would leave the few friends they managed to find on this mudball of a planet (_which wasn't as awful as he thought it would be_) for an indefinite period of time. And he didn't even want to _begin_ imagining how they would explain it to Cody and his family.

Heatwave's optics drifted over to Blades, who had flopped back into the command chair once the fight left him. He held his cranial unit in his servos, lifting it as his systems vented softly. He seemed to focus on something behind Heatwave, and for a moment did nothing. Then his optics widened, horrified realization written on every nerve, and he jerked to his pedes.

"No, _wait_-!" His plea was strangled, and he cut himself off without warning.

The rest of them followed his line of sight and found the door to the command center hanging slightly open. Heatwave turned to demand what Blades' malfunction was when he saw that the helicopter-bot's expression had molded into a combination of guilt, dismay, and fear.

"Blades, what-"

"It was Cody," Blades whispered. "Cody was listening the entire time."

* * *

><p>Leaving. They were <em>leaving<em>.

Cody could hardly wrap his head around the concept. The Rescue Bots, his best friends and family, were leaving Earth. Possibly forever.

Wrapping his arms more tightly around his legs, Cody buried his face against his knees. He wiped away what he furiously refused to acknowledge were tears, curling into himself further. All at once he felt like the little brother again, useless and clueless and helpless. The Rescue Bots had never made him feel like that. And he knew that there was nothing he could do to rectify it.

Cody looked up at the stars just as he caught the sound of engines from the tunnels behind him. He thought it ironic that the very place he'd tried to convince the Autobots to stay on Earth would be the place where they decided to leave it.

He didn't acknowledge them as they transformed, nor did he even glance their way as they gathered around him. There was silence then, only punctuated by their occasional movement, and Cody found the Big and Little Dipper and Orion the Hunter before one of them spoke.

"Cody…" the voice trembled, one he immediately recognized it as Blades, and the digits of a servo hesitantly brushed against his jacket before pulling away.

Next was Heatwave's rough inflection, and the fire response-bot placed one massive servo on a rock beside him, leaning forward so that if Cody turned around he would be looking into his optics.

"_Look_, whatever you think you saw-"

"I saw plenty," Cody interrupted, keeping his voice steady despite the tremor that passed through his body. He felt the littlest bit guilty about treating his friend's so coldly, but it was swallowed by his own hurt feelings and righteous anger.

He felt large digits press lightly against his back.

"Cody, can you let us explain?" Boulder tried, his tone kind, but something broke within Cody. He was tired of being treated like a child, of people thinking he didn't understand when he actually saw more than anyone could ever imagine. And he was sad and tired and fed up with everything because his best friends were leaving him behind.

Cody whirled around with surprising speed, startling the 'Bots into backing away. Tears stung his eyes, ones he didn't allow to fall as the dam restraining his emotions cracked and exploded outward.

"I _understand _guys! And it's fine if you want to leave. It's not like I can stop you. Go with Optimus, rebuild Cybertron…" Cody found his throat tightening and he looked away again, stubbornly hiding his face against his legs. The 'Bots must have been surprised by his outburst, as Cody wasn't known for them, especially since he'd gotten so much better at hiding his emotions.

He heard Heatwave vent air above him. "Listen, Cody," he said voice gruff. "We don't want to leave. At least, we don't want to leave you and your family."

"Last I checked some of you had no problem with it." Cody didn't see it, but Chase glanced away, expression blank.

"Ignore Chase," Heatwave told him firmly, much to the police-bot's voiced displeasure. "Emotion was never his strong suit. He just doesn't know how to say he's gonna miss this island."

"And the people on it," Blades added warmly.

Cody sighed; the emptiness inside him expanding until it became a black hole, sucking out everything of importance. He felt numb. "So you _are_ leaving."

The 'Bots were silent but what remained unsaid was more than enough explanation for the boy. He clenched his eyes shut despite the sudden lack of tears, awareness settling over him as he accepted the inevitable, and waited for them to leave once realizing there was nothing more to be said.

A servo was closing around him before he even knew what was happening, lifting Cody up with a speed that left him gasping from disorientation. Sitting in the Cybertronian's palm now, he had to blink several times before their features became clear. It was _Chase_.

"Heatwave's previous statement was erroneous. I actually possess a firm grasp of my emotions and the subject of them, particularly in others." Chase's optics were hard, but looked into Cody's eyes with such fierce emotion that it nearly took the boy's breath away. "Whatever you may believe, it is false. We are far from abandoning you _or_ your family at this or any time. At the moment, our planet is in ruins. We will rebuild it. We will return to view your films focusing on law-breaking, disruptive antics, and inane habits of street-crossing poultry. We will still protect Griffin Rock. And we will still be a family."

Cody gaped at the reticent police-bot with wide, disbelieving eyes, an expression mimicked by the other Rescue Bots. A smile began to break through the astonishment, and before Chase knew it, Cody was hugging his faceplate. Laughter broke out among the others, an easiness to their posture now that the storm had passed. Embarrassed, Chase carefully cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, well….you're welcome, Cody."

Cody took the hint and sat back down on his palm, exchanging looks with the Rescue Bots.

"You're not still mad at us, are you?" Blades inquired hesitantly, and Cody smiled.

"No, Blades. And I'm sorry about the way I acted; it wasn't fair to you guys."

Heatwave shrugged absently. "I'm sure we'll get over it."

No one making mention of his red-rimmed eyes, Cody grinned, leaning forward excitedly. "So what do you think Cybertron is like right now? There are no more Decepticons, right?"

"Without their leader they're pretty much aimless. Nothing much to fight for anymore," Boulder explained.

Chase nodded his head. "Megatron was eliminated," he said succinctly.

"By _Bumblebee_." Blades shuddered.

"And why are you asking about Cybertron?" Heatwave demanded, crossing his arms over his expansive chassis. "You're gonna be seeing it for yourself."

Cody blinked up at Heatwave, uncomprehending, but Boulder caught on to his leader's meaning with a grin.

"You're right. I think I remember Doc Greene mentioning something about perfecting his ultra-light space suits."

The boy looked from 'Bot to 'Bot, understanding dawning as his brown eyes widened in awe. "I'm going to _Cybertron_?!"

* * *

><p>"This. Is. So<em>. Cool!"<em>

Cody clambered over the rubble of what had once been part of an extensive network of roads suspended over the bustle of the city, his face a picture of wonder beneath his helmet. The four Rescue Bots flanked him, Heatwave and Boulder hitched to open trailers to be filled with debris by Blades and Chase. Any pieces deemed suitable by Boulder would by welded into place somewhere else by the helicopter and police-bot, sealing holes in walls, replacing missing chunks of rooftops, and the like. Rebuilding, as they were tasked with. Boulder would constantly drop his load to direct the placement of certain reused materials himself, and as such it was slow going.

Boulder chuckled as Blades dumped a particularly large chunk of building onto his growing pile of cargo. "Be careful, Cody," he reminded the rambunctious boy with a rumble of his systems. A thoughtful sound came upon his vocals. "Actually, Blades, I think _that_ could be used on that building over there—there's a piece of the doorway missing, do you see it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Blades grumbled, and did as Boulder instructed. He peered into the empty building out of instinct more than anything else. Any and all bodies were cleared from the area days before Cody's arrival.

"What's the name of this city again?" Cody asked, sliding down a sheer portion of former-road. "Iocan?"

"_Iacon_," Chase corrected as he and a returned Blades tackled the rubble Cody had been scaling and held up fragments of it to Boulder for inspection. Nonplussed, Cody began climbing another pile.

"You should've seen it before the war," Blades said wistfully as he and Chase worked together to dislodge a portion of a ramp from the heap that Boulder deemed promising. "There were buildings taller than anything on Earth, bustling with 'Bots from all over Cybertron..." The helicopter-bot grunted as he and Chase finally freed the trapped piece of rubble. "All the big wigs lived up here."

"Sort of like our capital?" Cody supplied as he balanced on a precarious portion of debris. Heatwave answered this time, his moodiness at having to haul debris gradually dissipating.

"Sort of. It's more like–Cody, get down from there—the hub for the entire planet. Or _was_."

Cody carefully climbed down from his dangerous perch as Heatwave had instructed, finding a seat among the rubble as he watched his friend's work.

"I wasn't gonna fall, you know," he couldn't help but point out.

"Yes, but there was a chance you _might_ have fallen and injured yourself. Then where would we be?" Boulder retorted smoothly as he and Heatwave inched forward.

"The conditions of our agreement were that you would be allowed to accompany us as long as you were vigilant, and did not put yourself into unnecessary danger," Chase sternly reminded him, pulling more smashed building parts from their general surroundings and welding them to Boulder's instruction.

Cody sighed in open exasperation but nodded all the same. "I know, I know. I'll be more careful." He scaled a pile adjacent to the one previous, crawling on his hands and knees to find purchase before he stood and pointed off into the distance. "What's _that_? It looks like no one even _touched_ it!"

Blades stilled, followed Cody's finger until locating the object of the boy's attention. "Oh, that's the Iacon Hall of Records," he said absently. "Long story short, Megatron fixed it up with the original Omega Lock. It was _all_ he got to fix, though.

"It's really pretty," Cody observed, and spun to face his friends. "Is that were Optimus and his team are?"

Heatwave bumped into Blades' leg, putting the helicopter-bot back to work. "Nah, Prime's got us working by sector," Heatwave explained. "We're gonna "fix" everything up bit by bit until Iacon's habitable again. Or at least not a complete dump. Can't imagine that twelve 'Bots would be enough to rebuild an entire planet, though…"

"Don't forget Knock Out," Boulder supplied, transforming to help Chase with a particularly tricky girder, and Heatwave's internal systems revved angrily.

"I _haven't_. Unfortunately."

Cody ignored the light bickering he was all too familiar with, instead checking out his new perch in view of the Iacon Hall of Records to assure himself and the 'Bots of its stability. He recognized the pedefalls of the 'Bot approaching him from behind but made no move to acknowledge them yet.

"Is something wrong, Cody?"

He looked up at the helicopter-bot hovering worriedly beside him. Cody smiled, easing the mech's anxiety.

"I'm fine, Blades. Better than fine, in fact." Cody spread his arms wide over his head, enthusiasm strengthening his words. "I'm on an _alien planet_! I can't _wait_ to tell Frankie about this."

Blades' facial components curled upward in a smile, and he looked over what they could see of Iacon. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Cody. And…thank you for coming." Surprised, Cody looked up at the 'Bot, but Blades only had eyes for the city. "It's going to take a while to rebuild. I can't wait to see your face when we finish Iacon. If Boulder has anything to say about it, it'll look like the war never happened."

Cody chuckled, raising a gloved hand to rest it against the helicopter-bot's arm. "I'm looking forward to it, Blades."

This time Blades grinned, and he swept the space suit-clad boy into his arms. "And _that_ is why you're the best human ever," Blades stated matter-of-factly, despite Cody's failed attempt at smothering his laughter as he hung sideways in the 'Bot's servos.

"Hey, Blades, do you think you could get outta' the way so we can actually _finish_ this sector in the next solar cycle?" Heatwave piped up irritably, a glare his only response from the helicopter-bot.

"I concur with Heatwave," Chase added. "We must continue. And you may want to release Cody before he loses consciousness."

Blades only then noticed that Cody had begun to slide out of his grip, his face nearly purple from laughter as he hung almost upside down.

"Oh," Blades said, and righted the boy before placing him on Heatwave's roof. They were moving slowly enough that he would not be jostled. "Are you okay, Cody?"

"Peachy," Cody gasped, but waved Blades off. "I'll be fine. You should get back to work; Optimus will be expecting us back soon."

Blades agreed, however grudgingly, and ruffled Cody's hair with a digit before following Boulder's directions once more.

As they crawled forward, Heatwave's frame rumbled beneath the boy. "You gonna be okay, Cody?"

Cody smiled. The frequency of which the question was asked continued to steadily increase, it seemed. He patted the fire truck's roof with a comforting hum.

"I think we're all gonna be okay, Heatwave."


	16. Chapter 16

**A Brief Respite **

**A/N: **_This chapter was w__ritten for Benny The Crazed Cartoonist who suggested a Bumblebee & Blades story forever ago. Just a fun little chapter. _

_I also put Raf more in the spotlight, since the show's terrible at furthering his character and he's my favorite of the kids. _

Warnings_: hinted romance, and slight AU post-Deadlock. You'll understand when you read. _

_Transformers Prime/Rescue Bots (c) Hasbro _

* * *

><p>"How's the water, Raf?"<p>

"Good," the brunette answered without raising his head. "I never thought the ocean could be so warm."

Bumblebee looked over the edge of the small pier he rested on and was content to see the thin rope that anchored Rafael's raft to the metal ladder still in place. His charge's presence secured, the scout reclined against the shipping container behind him, basking in the sun.

"Hey, Bee," Raf said suddenly, "when's the last time we got to relax? You know, _really_ relax?"

Bumblebee deliberated the question for a moment. "Not since our first base was destroyed, I think," he replied. "Why, are you enjoying yourself now?"

"Yeah," Raf assured him, stretching out on his raft. "It's so calm here. It sure was nice of Chief Burns to let us stay here a while."

"Real nice," Bumblebee agreed, "we all needed a bit of down-time after everything that's happened. I thought Ratchet was gonna go nuts if he stayed inside the base for another day."

"Yeah. Speaking of nuts, where have Miko and Bulkhead gone?"

Bumblebee shrugged. "I think they were going to explore a coral reef or something. We'll see them in an hour or two."

Raf studied the blue sky above him, wiggling his toes in the cool water. He honestly liked this—the peace. They were only staying in Griffin Rock for a few more days but each was more perfect than the last. As the island was heavily shielded they needn't worry about random Decepticon attacks by whatever remained of Megatron's forces, giving Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and Jazz, one of the Autobot refugees they'd found on Cybertron, a chance to plan the future of their race. Raf was grateful for the time he got to spend with his best friend more than anything.

"Ho, down there!" a familiar voice shouted from above, and Rafael started. Bumblebee hardly reacted besides sending a sluggish glance skyward, having probably detected the 'bot's signal some time ago.

Raf sat up and smiled, waving at the circling white and orange helicopter."Hey, Blades!" he called up to the Rescue Bot.

Blades transformed in midair, and began falling rapidly toward the ocean. Raf wasn't worried, knowing that even in bipedal form his helicopter blades allowed him to hover or slow his descent. It didn't take long for Raf to realize that Blades would do no such thing, but it was too late for him to react when the Cybertronian landed in the water feet first, creating a wave so powerful it knocked Raf off his raft.

He resurfaced laughing, treading water to get back to his raft, which had drifted back toward the pier. Raf didn't get far before something began to lift him out of the ocean, and he soon found himself dripping seawater onto Blades' equally soaked servo.

"Hi, Rafael," Blades replied with a wide smile, and the boy nearly choked on seawater when he laughed again.

"Call me Raf, Blades," he reminded the helicopter-bot, looking over the edge of the Rescue Bot's servo. Blades, being taller than Bumblebee, could stand in the relatively shallow area with the water reaching no more than halfway up his chassis whereas it would've covered the scout's head.

"Hi, Raf," Blades repeated, correcting himself. He looked over at the dock where the scout rested. "H-hi, Bumblebee!"

Bumblebee lazily waved a servo in acknowledgement, though Blades didn't seem the least put-out by this lack of attention. Still beaming like the sun, he looked down to the boy in his servo. "So how have you been keeping, Raf?" he asked eagerly as his passenger kicked his legs in the water.

"I've been okay, Blades," Raf replied. "Considering the circumstances we're doing great."

Blades nodded somberly, and the frown on his facial components made him look like a completely different person. "Yeah, Optimus filled us in on what happened to you all. Predacons, huh?"

"Plus Megatron finally kicking the bucket," Bumblebee chimed in rather smugly.

"What was the battle like, Bumblebee?" Blades said nervously, depositing Raf onto his raft once more.

Bumblebee shrugged against the shipping container he lounged against. "Crazy. It was all eight of us against Megatron, his high-ranking officers, and a handful of Vehicons. Plus Predaking was trying to get a bite outta Megatron the entire time."

Blades nearly flinched at the mention of the lord of the Decepticons. "Well, Heatwave will be upset to learn he missed all the action."

"Agent Fowler and his squad also provided air support," Raf added. "It distracted them and thinned their ranks…" he glanced up at Bumblebee worriedly and Blades followed his line of sight.

"We think some of Megatron's commanding officers might have survived," Bumblebee elaborated, "there are plenty of 'Cons to recruit out in space."

"Oh," Blades murmured dejectedly, "then you won't be staying long?"

"'Fraid not."

"We wouldn't want any Decepticons to find us here," Raf said quickly, and patted Blades' servo. "Plus, I haven't seen my parents in almost three months."

Blades smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Raf, I understand." He ruffled the boy's wet hair with a careful digit. "Just be sure to visit us whenever you can."

Raf grinned, blinking at the hair that had fallen into his eyes. "Count on it, Blades."

The helicopter-bot cleared his throat surreptitiously. "Y-you can come too, Bumblebee!"

"Maybe I will," the sun-bathing scout replied absently.

Blades canted his head to the side, his optics glazing over, and Raf recognized the tell-tale signs of a 'bot receiving a message over a comm link. A moment later he was smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Dani calls. I'll see you two later."

He transformed and hovered over the water for a moment, mist rising from the waves due to the strong draft caused by his spinning blades.

"Bye, Blades!" Raf shouted over the roar, waving goodbye as the helicopter rose.

"Goodbye, Rafael!" Blades crowed as he soared over their heads. "Bye Bumblebee!"

Raf waved until Blades disappeared on the other side of the docks. He waited a beat before he paddled back to the pier, tying up his raft and scaling the ladder to reach the surface his guardian sat upon. As he plopped down next to Bumblebee he smiled mischievously.

"Heatwave was right; he _does_ have a crush on you."

Bumblebee groaned at the mention. "He does _not_! I swear to Primus, you're as bad as Miko sometimes."

Raf's smile was the widest Bumblebee had seen since he'd gotten his voice back. "Then how do you explain-"

"He _idolizes_ me, okay?" Bumblebee argued, but his faceplates struggled to keep frowning. "There's a big difference. Just wait until he takes on his first Vehicon and he'll forget all about me."

"Have you _met_ Blades? Not to be mean, but I don't think he could take on a fly."

Bumblebee rotated his optics in a Cybertronian version of an eye roll. "Yeah yeah, real funny, Raf. Now how about we get back to relaxing?"

"I told you it would be a bad idea to let Bulkhead and Miko babysit me," Raf retorted innocently, allowing Bumblebee to cradle him in one of his arms and bring him closer to his side. As soon as Raf's bare shoulder touched the sun-baked metal he yelped and recoiled. "You're hot!" he winced, rubbing his shoulder.

Bumblebee cycled his optics. "Ah, sorry." He reached over to the side where Raf had left his glasses, shoes, and shirt when going in the water and handed his charge the latter. Now protected from the Cybertronian's hotter than normal mesh, Raf curled up again him and yawned.

Bumblebee chuckled. "Tired, huh? You've been in the sun all day."

"Got up early," Raf mumbled, lack of sleep catching up with him. "Ratchet needed help with…" he yawned. "…comm array."

"Do you want to head back to the firehouse?" Bumblebee asked when his charge began to have trouble keeping his eyes open.

Raf nodded sleepily. "Sure. Chase is taking…Cody and me on patrol tomorrow. Gotta…be awake early to go."

"Alright then," Bumblebee replied softly. "Let's get going." He transformed around Raf as carefully as possible, making sure not to jostle him before gently setting him in his passenger seat and buckling his seatbelt. As he began driving away from the docks he internal sensors caught his charge mumbling something. "What was that, Raf?"

Raf burrowed deeper into his upholstery. "I'm glad I can hear your voice, Bee," he said, and Bumblebee's spark swelled with warmth.

"Well thanks, Raf-"

"And Blades does have a crush on you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Midnight**

A/N:It's been a really long time since I've posted anything, and I'm very sorry for that. Schoolwork got the better of me, but I'll try to devote more time to writing in future.

Anyway, here's some Dani and Blades fluff. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Blades' favorite part of an Earth solar cycle had to be the hours following the setting of the sun.<p>

Now he wasn't about to go traipsing through Griffin Rock at such Primus-forsaken hours, not after the lion incident, but he enjoyed the night hours all the same. When Blades had a lot on his mind or was homesick, as he and the others were often wont to be (even Heatwave, he was certain), he would take the elevator up onto the helipad on the roof and rest up there in vehicle mode.

Unlike during the day, when the island town bustled with movement and general cacophony, as soon as evening rolled around Griffin Rock became as silent as the Sea of Rust.

When the weather was nice Blades enjoyed staying on the roof all night, sometimes catching up on recharge, other times enjoying the cool air. The change in weather was too mild to affect him (though he and the other 'bots were still leery of rain due to the acid kind they had back home), and whenever he got into a funk a few moments of solitude were often best at getting him back to normal.

That evening in particular Heatwave decided to play one of the most violent horror films he could get his servos on, and was promptly joined by Kade and Graham. He'd also somehow managed to cajole Chase into watching as well.

Boulder retired for the night, as did the Chief, and Cody was sent to bed (_"Baby bro's not old enough to watch grown-up movies",_ according to Kade). Dani was out on a "date", to the unending glee of her older brothers who teased her mercilessly as she was in the process of preparing herself for her night out.

Blades, aiming to void Dani's impressive temper and Heatwave incessant coaxing, retreated to the roof for some, in his opinion, well deserved peace and quiet. He spoke with Cody for a while over the comm as the boy had some trouble sleeping, but soon even that ended and Blades was left alone with his thoughts.

It felt brief to him (_time seemed to pass so much _faster_ on Earth!) _but around midnight Blades heard the whir of the elevator rising to the roof. Blades activated his sensors sluggishly, and before he was fully on alert he could hear the soft sound of sock-clad feet padding in his direction.

"Dani?" he hedged upon reading the familiar bio signature.

He detected his partner near his fuselage, shuffling from foot to foot. "No, it's _Kade_. C'mon, let me in, Blades, it's _freezing_ out here!"

With an embarrassed judder on his skids (_Primus_, he'd forgotten to check the temperature!) Blades quickly allowed entrance to his cockpit. He waited for Dani scramble in and closed the glass dome once he was certain there were no extremities to be caught on.

Blades activated the monitor on his dash to see Dani rubbing her arms, a sure sign she was still cold.

"Are the blankets still in here?" she asked just as Blades made to offer.

"Uh huh," Blades answered. "In the kit in the back."

Dani clambered behind his seats and Blades heard her rifle through the emergency kit before retrieving the wool blanket with a whoop of success.

As Dani made herself comfortable in the front seat, Blades devoted a part of his processor to analyzing his partner's behavior.

Dani wasn't behaving oddly, per say, but it was near midnight on a Saturday. If she wasn't "hanging out" with friends until the odd hours of the morning, she would be watching the film with her siblings down below, and successfully convincing him to join her. But showing up without explanation, not even bringing up a topic for them to discuss (as she was opt to do, since Blades had poor communication skills) was odd to say the least.

"You're being quiet, Blades," Dani observed from her blanket covert, so tightly wrapped that she reminded him of the creepy crawly insects from that nature show Boulder so enjoyed viewing. "Something wrong?"

"Nope," he said, perhaps too quickly. "I'm just fine. Operating at full capacity."

Dani sent the monitor a strange look, and Blades mimicked the way a human cleared their throat. Curse his nervousness! The others could surely speak to their partners with greater ease than he could.

"Um…how-how's your night been, Dani?" he said at last, once his glossa finished tying itself in knots.

His partner smirked at the monitor, probably accustomed to his jumpiness when speaking. "It was fine, Blades. The usual."

"And your…what about your 'date'?" Blades queried hesitantly. Dani's expression changed so suddenly Blades could have sworn his spark gave a lurch in its casing. Worried, he began to wonder what he'd done wrong. However, he resisted scanning Dani's vitals to try and find an answer—out of the four of them, Boulder was the best at reading human emotions, followed by Heatwave, himself, and lastly (_of course_) Chase. But Boulder had encouraged them to speak to the humans whenever possible to get a fix on their patterns of behavior instead of scanning them for information. It would be "good practice" for them, or so Boulder claimed.

But Boulder's lessons would certainly prove near-fruitless now. Humans were difficult to comprehend when behaving in a linear fashion, but when their mood swings peaked, it would be easier to find a servo in a scrapyard rather than decipher Dani's confusing emotional responses.

Before Blades' fateful question Dani's expression was mild and calm. She was at ease. But then Blades had to go and open his mouth and suddenly Dani's brows were knitted, her features troubled, and her posture evasive. Some he recognized as signs of anger, others of immediate optic leakage (_tears, _Blades_, tears!) _and he found the safest response to be the often-used but successful backpedaling.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to intrude! I don't understand human courtship rituals very well, and Kade seems to enjoy talking about his dates _all the time_—"

"_Whoa_, Blades!" Dani interrupted sharply, though the 'bot wasn't even sure if she could even understand his babble. "It's _okay_, you didn't 'intrude'." As if to further reassure him, Dani patted the dash.

"You mean…you aren't upset with me?" Blades clarified, much more a statement than a question. He could easily read Dani now, and she was definitely still displeased. Something about the set of her jaw tipped him off.

Rather than expanding on his open-ended statement, Dani narrowed her eyes at the monitor. "You didn't _scan_ me, did you?" she accused. "I thought Boulder told you to stop doing that to us unless it was an emergency."

"I didn't _need_ to scan you," Blades said, rapidly defending himself. "It's obvious that you're still unhappy."

Dani relaxed, if only slightly. Blades had come to understand that the concept of their scans felt invasive to some of the humans, particularly Dani. She shifted in the cocoon of blankets she'd created, avoiding the all-knowing gaze of the monitor. Once more, Blades was put on high alert.

Dani was being quiet. Dani was _never_ quiet, especially when she had something to complain about. But she was hardly _speaking_ to him, and Blades didn't know _what_ to think.

"Did something go wrong?" he asked immediately, and when Dani clearly didn't comprehend he cautiously elaborated. "Your 'date', he didn't…hurt you, did he?"

Dani stared unblinkingly at the monitor for many seconds, and in that span of time Blade's worry grew to insurmountable levels. Unexpectedly, Dani burst into laughter.

"What?" Blades demanded, his voice rising shrilly. "What is it?"

_Was laughter a sign of shock?_

"You are such a _worrywart_, Blades!" Dani crowed, "Geez, who's putting these ideas in your head? Was it Heatwave? I bet it was Heatwave."

"Chase gave us a lesson on dangers to humans that were non-disaster related," Blades muttered.

Dani laughed again, and Blades would've been insulted if it weren't for the light that returned to her eyes.

"Oh, Blades," she sighed, patting his dash gain. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"You could tell me what happened on your date so I don't have to worry anymore," Blades suggested earnestly. And it was the truth—if he didn't receive an honest account of his partner's evening happenings his processor would conjure all sorts of unpleasant and anxiety-produced alternatives. "For my peace of processor if nothing else," Blades quickly added when Dani stayed silent.

Dani exhaled again, though this time it was with a tired undertone rather than one of amusement. She curled back into the seat and pulled her blanket up to her chin.

"There isn't much to tell, Blades. The night just didn't go the way I wanted it to."

"Why's that?"

Dani shrugged, beginning to idly pick at a loose string on a corner of the blanket. "I went with one of Kade's old friends from school. I can tell you now, this is the _last time_ I get dating advice from him."

"But why didn't you enjoy yourself?" Blades prodded. His tone hardened. "If he was being inappropriate I could probably convince Chase to arrest him. Or at least hold him in cell for the night."

Dani smiled again, and Blades was pleased, although he wasn't sure what he'd said to amuse her.

"He just wasn't the right guy, Blades," she said. Realization struck the Rescue Bot.

"What about that young man who made 'gooshy eyes' at you? Would he be the 'right guy'?"

Dani's cheeks colored and she ducked her head. "Oh, I don't know, Blades. I don't really think—"

"Come on, Dani!" Blades said encouragingly, and his visage on the monitor beamed. "You like him, right? Maybe? A little bit?" When Dani hesitantly nodded he continued. "Well, what I've gathered about human courtship rituals from TV, you should just 'talk to him'. It worked for Spike and Carly on _The Kitchen Sinks_."

Dani smiled gently, her cheeks still mildly flushed. "Blades, I don't think—"

"Dani," Blades interrupted, "I don't like seeing you upset. That young man, the pilot, he makes you smile. So, maybe you'd have more fun on your dates if you went with him. Right?"

His partner was quiet for a few nanokliks, and Blades found himself waiting patiently for her reaction. At last, Dani smiled at the monitor.

"I'll consider it. Maybe."

Dani turned on her side, bundling herself in her blanket again. "But right now I'm going to sleep. We've got patrol at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

"But…it _is_ tomorrow. 12:11 technically—"

"_Goodnight_, Blades."


	18. Chapter 18

**Secret **

A/N: Just an idea I had - what if Cody knew the Rescue Bots' secret for longer than a day?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your responses to these oneshots! If anyone has any prompts/suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Graham, there's something up with our bots. Mine will either do stuff <em>without<em> me telling to, or it'll do something when I specifically tell it _not to_! It sucks at following orders…You too? No, I agree, we should bring it up with Dad. We can't have malfunctioning bots – they could jeopardize a mission, or _worse_, make us look bad –"

Heatwave's (infuriating) human partner had gone on in a similar refrain for the last fifteen cycles. When he was not complaining to _one_ sibling about their "malfunctioning" Rescue Bots, he was complaining to both or to _himself_ when either was busy. The day's patrol was tedious and uneventful, which Heatwave should have been grateful for, but for the last two megacycles he had honestly wished something would spontaneously combust, if only to give him something to do other than listen to Kade run his mouth.

So far Chief Burns was detaining any attempt on his offspring's part to convince him that their bots were not behaving in the expected 'robot' fashion. Of this Heatwave _was_ appreciative, if only because he did not wish to deal with the young humans' reactions to the truth. He and his team were quite content with the two humans on Griffin Rock who did know their secret, and if they were forced to deal with the additional processor-aches of their oblivious partners (Heatwave especially), so be it.

To Heatwave's immediate relief, Kade turned him onto the firehouse driveway just as he shut down communications with his sibling. Allowing their partners access to their manual controls was just an added hindrance, but sometimes it allowed Heatwave the time to clear his head. Today was not one of those days, but perhaps Kade would start talking less and maybe tomorrow could be.

Kade pulled into the garage with a grumble about his fuel intake being low, and Heatwave engaged the parking brake before his partner had the chance. Kade startled, but turned around and kicked the door open with a stubborn expression, muttering about stupid robots and "letting Doc Greene have a look at them" as he stomped toward the human living quarters.

As if Heatwave would allow any human scientist to come within even an _inch_ of his frame.

The garage was empty save for Heatwave, though he could detect the energy signatures of his teammates in the bunker below. Once he was certain that Kade would not be returning, he transformed to robot mode and made the necessary adjustments to reach the bunker.

He stepped off the lift and was greeted by the sound of the television set to whatever inane soap opera Blades had fallen in love with that week and his teammates scattered around the bunker.

"Hi Heatwave!" Cody cried in greeting from the floor, where he was in the midst of playing a colorful board game with Boulder and Chase. Blades had his upper chassis propped up on the sofa, his attention torn between the TV show and the game.

"How was patrol?" Cody added hopefully as Heatwave stalked across the room. He growled lowly, clambering onto the raised platform that housed the training dummies, and proceeded to beat the scrap out of them.

Cody winced. "That bad, huh?"

"I don't think Heatwave and Kade will ever get along," Boulder opined thoughtfully, examining the tiny playing card in his servo.

"Especially since they can't actually, y'know, _talk_ to each other," Blades pointed out.

"Don't think I'd _want_ to talk to him," Heatwave grunted, completing a particularly impressive sequence of movements against the dummy, diverting Cody from his game. Heatwave was almost always out of sorts after returning from any mission with Kade, and Cody hoped a distraction would put him more at ease.

"Hey Heatwave, did you used to fight on Cybertron?"

Heatwave paused mid-swing, momentarily shuttering his optics in surprise, and the expression was mimicked by the other Rescue Bots. He turned around, looking down at Cody with a quirked optic ridge.

"What do you mean?" He was not upset, only curious as to why the boy would ask, and made sure his rough tone conveyed just that. Heatwave had vented his frustrations (which seemed to only increase in number the longer they stayed in Griffin Rock) many times with Cody present, and despite his initial surprise at the bot's strength and ferocity, had made no comment.

Cody shrugged with deliberate offhandness, throwing a pair of dice onto his board game and moving a small piece of metal down four colorful squares. "Well it looks like you're really good at it. You were a firefighter back on your planet, so I get why you're strong, but not why you know how to fight." Cody grinned, passing the dice to Boulder. "Kade can't throw a punch to save his life."

Heatwave snorted, sitting down on the edge of the platform. "I can believe that. As for the fighting…"

"Heatwave learned that _all on his own_," Blades inputted with a sly grin.

"Through the attendance of various debauching bacchanalias," Chase muttered disapprovingly, taking the dice from Boulder and rolling an eight.

Cody looked at Boulder for clarification, and the engineer smiled at him ruefully. "Heatwave was in a lot of bar fights," he explained, while the fire-response bot sputtered in indignation.

"Don't tell him _that_!"

"But it is accurate," Chase cut in, looking over at Heatwave with a frankly unimpressed expression. "I myself had the duty of intervening on part of numerous conflicts you often participated in, and occasionally instigated."

Both Cody and Blades burst out in laughter at the betrayed look on Heatwave's faceplates. Boulder chuckled and Chase looked proud as he advanced on the board game.

"_Alright_," Heatwave interjected pointedly, glaring at his teammates. "But to answer Cody's question, I did _not_ learn my combat skills through bar fights. I was taught by the Cybertron Elite Guard."

"The what?" Cody responded, looking perplexed. Blades rolled his optics.

"You've just gotta rub it in, don't you, Heatwave?"

"The Elite Guard was the pinnacle of Cybertron's military force," Heatwave explained with rare patience. "Only the best of the _best_ went there. Of course, I didn't join, but one of the instructors was an old friend of mine and agreed to train me. Thanks to Kup, I was able to hold my ground in all those bar fights."

Cody was quit a moment, rolling the dice and moving his piece accordingly. "Why _didn't_ you join?" he asked eventually. "I mean, I'm glad you didn't, but it sounds like something you'd like to do."

Heatwave nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does. But I think I realized then what I realize now – I need my team, and they need me. Besides, the Elite Guard's got a really high mortality rate."

"Aw," Boulder said, moving his game piece further down the board. "That was almost sweet."

"Boulder, you have landed on the fictional location of the "Boardwalk", upon which I own an overnight establishment," Chase informed his teammate succinctly and with a tinge of amusement. "You now owe me 2000 dollars of the false paper variety."

As Boulder groaned dejectedly and handed over the required amount, Cody snickered with a near incredulous look on his face. "Chase you own practically every property on the board!"

Chase appeared confused. "Is that not the purpose of the game?"

"Yes, but there's no need to rub it in," Boulder retorted good naturally.

The dice were handed to Chase, and from the sofa Blades gasped at something on TV. Heatwave snorted, hopping off the platform with care to avoid jostling Cody or the board game. "I'd say we've just about assimilated. If only Optimus could see us now."

His team shared a susurration of amusement, though Cody looked curious. "Who's Optimus?" he asked.

Heatwave fell silent, as did the others, and they glanced at one another with a touch of uncertainty. They had refrained from explaining too much to Cody, and had only covered the basics of whom they were and why they were on Earth. He knew they were from Cybertron, and they had come to Griffin Rock to learn human custom and put their skills to good use, but that was all.

"Optimus Prime is our leader," Heatwave explained, tension lining his frame as he dealt with an inner turmoil. "He's the leader of all Cybertronians – well, _Autobots_, at any rate."

"He was chosen when we were already in stasis," Blades elaborated, lowering the volume on the television. "We didn't even _know_ we had a new Prime until we came to Earth!"

Their board game temporarily abandoned, Cody seemed determined to learn all he could about the Rescue Bots, as honest as they were being with him now. "There was more than one?"

"Sentinel Zeta Prime was still in command when we left Cybertron," Chase informed Cody, who did not appear satisfied.

"And how did Optimus become Prime? Was he elected?"

Chase prepared to answer, and would do so truthfully, of that Heatwave was certain, but he lifted a servo to silence his teammate. He crouched before Cody and told his straightforwardly, "Sentinel Prime was killed."

"Heatwave – "Boulder tried, whether to keep him from continuing or take over the explanation himself, but Heatwave cut him off.

"He deserves to know, Boulder." He glanced up to determine the reactions of his team – Chase looked resigned and Blades a little frightened, though he rose from the couch and joined the group gathered around Cody. Heatwave turned back to the boy who was appeared shaken but retained a resolute look in his eyes.

"Cody, when we left to patrol Cybertronian space in our ship, our planet was in trouble – we just didn't realize it. We were told that a rebel group calling themselves 'Decepticons' were gaining favor with the populous. Led by Megatron, they opposed the inequality in our society. It turned out that what he really wanted was control of Cybertron – and Sentinel Prime was in the way of that. The Decepticons kidnapped and killed Sentinel, and arranged a series of coordinated attacks against Cybertron. Optimus was chosen as Prime, the Autobots were forced to fight against Megatron and the Decepticons, and so started the War."

Cody appeared stricken, and for an instant Heatwave regretted telling him the truth. But then Cody inhaled deeply and looked up at the Rescue Bots with an expression of mixed awe and trepidation.

"You were told," he said softly.

Heatwave furrowed his optic ridges. "Huh?"

"You said that you were told," Cody repeated louder. "Heatwave… how long were you guys in stasis?"

Blades chuckled weakly behind him. "This is gonna sound ridiculous, but…"

"Four million years, "Chase said shortly. "Give or take a century."

Cody blinked owlishly at him. "_What_?"

Heatwave face palmed with a long ex-vent, both of them habits picked up from too much time around the humans. "The war went on for four million years. Our ship malfunctioned and locked us in stasis just before that."

"But," Cody stammered, clearly trying to process what they were telling him. "Four _million_ years? How old _are_ you guys?"

"Ancient," Boulder said warmly.

"Old as balls," Blades agreed with a solemn nod, and Cody burst into laughter.

"Blades!" Chase admonished. "You are aware that foul language is not to be used in Cody's presence! Younglings should not hear such vulgarity. What would Chief Burns think?"

Blades sputtered for a rebuttal, raising his servos defensively. "But-but I heard Kade say it!"

"Then by all means, Blades, repeat what the irresponsible Kade Burns has to say!"

As the pouting Blades continued to be lectured by Chase and then a slightly kinder Boulder on appropriate language around Cody, Heatwave leaned forward and claimed the boy's attention.

"Cody, I don't want you worrying about what happened in the past. After we met you, we weren't sure whether or not to tell you about Cybertron and the War. But I can count the number of humans we can trust on one servo and decided it was only fair you knew."

Cody positively beamed with pride. "You guys trust me?"

Chase turned away from Blades with a mutter about installing anti-swear programming, and gave the boy a small, sincere smile that Heatwave had only seen on the Enforcer's faceplates a few times. "Indeed, Cody. Admittedly, upon our first meeting I was doubtful we could confide in you. Humans as a species, younglings in particular, are notorious for their inability to keep anything of great magnitude a secret – for example, the existence of extraterrestrials. With you, however, I was pleasantly surprised."

Cody's eyes danced between the Rescue Bots, and his smile grew at they expressed their agreement.

"Besides," Heatwave added. "Even if Kade _did_ know what we were, do you think I'd bare my spark to _him_? I might not think much of humanity, but you're the best example of the good ones."

"Thanks, guys," Cody said, and Heatwave was sure that his smile could outshine any supernova. "Really. Living in Griffin Rock might be interesting some days, but meeting you guys – that was _amazing_. You're my best friends."

"Aw," Blades murmured, sounding tearful, and scooped Cody up into a careful hug. "Thank you, Cody. We _are_ pretty cool, huh?"

"Dork," Heatwave muttered, toning down his insult at Chase's pointed glare.

Blades had taken to cradling Cody as humans did their sparklings, despite the boy's vocal protests amid his laughter. "Blades," he snorted as the bot began rocking him back and forth. "I'm not a baby, you can put me down now – "

Cody's pocket emitted a series of strange musical notes that had Blades pause in his coddling. "My phone," Cody said quickly, pulling out a small rectangular device and immediately looking worrying.

"Hey, Dad," he answered, pressing the phone to ear. "No, I'm not at Frankie's. I'm –"Cody trailed off, looking up at Heatwave with wide eyes that seemed to scream _'what should I tell him?'_

Heatwave smirked and nodded, though Blades got the message instead. "Tell him the truth," he whispered unnecessarily to Cody.

"Um…" Cody stammered. "Dad, I'm – I'm actually hanging out with the bots." There was a pause, and then Cody's face became a picture of surprise. "Wait, you _knew_? The _whole time_? Yeah, I've known for like a month! No, don't tell Kade, Graham, and Dani. I think we should surprise them."

At Cody's mischievous grin, Heatwave couldn't help but laugh.


End file.
